Blue Dukes edge Pirates in a pitchers’ duel; Webb stays hot

The Port Washington High School baseball team played its seventh one-run game of the season on Monday, this time losing a pitchers’ duel at Whitefish Bay, 2-1.

Port’s all-conference sophomore pitcher Max Webb went the distance, allowing two runs, seven hits and a walk while whiffing six.

“Webb was outstanding. He located all of his pitches well and kept a great team off balance,” coach Zach Perkins said.

Webb added two hits, including a home run, an RBI and a run scored.

Jack Bunyan and Thomas Ward each had a hit. Port only had four.

The Blue Dukes’ Chase Wolter pitched 5-1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and a walk while whiffing five. Charlie McIntyre allowed a run, hit and walk in 1-2/3 innings, whiffing three.

“We did have our opportunities, leaving the bases loaded one inning and the tying run on third in the seventh,” Perkins said.

Port is 3-4 in one-run contests this year.

Port lost, 6-5, at Slinger last Friday.

The Pirates led, 5-3, after five innings when the Owls came back with three runs in the sixth inning, and Port couldn’t answer in the seventh.

Dawson Dinkel had three hits and a highlight-reel RBI thanks to Bunyan. The sophomore was trying to score from second but the throw beat him. Bunyan’s hand slid outside of the plate to avoid the tag on a bang-bang play, Perkins said.

Bunyan had two hits and two RBIs. Webb had a double and an RBI. Carson Hill had a double and scored two runs.

Ward allowed three runs, five hits and four walks while whiffing nine in 4-2/3 innings. Jackson Dickson allowed three runs, four hits and a walk while striking out one in 1-1/3 innings.

“Ward did a great job battling all game against a great team. He was making things tough for them,” Perkins said.

Port split the season series with Kewaskum last week. On May 5, Webb allowed three hits and a walk while whiffing 11 in 6-2/3 scoreless innings in a 7-0 home win. He reached the 100-pitch limit, and Cash Didier got the game’s final out.

“Max was outstanding. He showed every bit of why he’s one of the best pitchers you’ll find,” Perkins said.

Port started by scoring four runs in the first inning, and ended by scoring three in the seventh.

Hill had two hits, three RBIs and scored two runs. O’Neil Wright had three hits. Webb had two hits, including a double, and an RBI. Austin Johnson had a double and an RBI. Dinkel had a hit and scored two runs.

“That was probably the most complete baseball game of the season,” Perkins said. “Pitching, defensively no errors, 10 hits, seven runs against a good team.”

Kewaskum got revenge in Port last Thursday, 14-6. Wright and Hill each had two hits and an RBI.

“O’Neil has been swinging it well, setting the table for us,” Perkins said of his leadoff hitter.

Hill, he said has also come on as of late.

“The past couple of weeks he’s been doing a good job,” he said.

Webb had a double and two RBIs. Ward had a hit and an RBI.

Bunyan allowed seven runs (six earned), seven hits and a walk while whiffing seven in 4-2/3 innings. Sam Thompson allowed seven runs (two earned) and six hits while striking out four in 2-1/3 innings.

“We got outslugged. They were really hitting the ball,” Perkins said, adding his defense made four errors.

Port, 5-3 and in third place in the Glacier Trails Conference (8-10 overall), was to play at Plymouth on Tuesday, May 12. The Pirates host Plymouth on Thursday, May 14, Homestead on Friday, May 15, Living Word Lutheran on Saturday, May 16, and Sheboygan South on Tuesday, May 19.