The Stark Truth

You could make an argument that Jason Hammel is pitching as good as anyone in baseball.

The South Kitsap grad improved to 3-0 for the Orioles on Wednesday, allowing just four hits over seven innings in a 3-0 win over Toronto. Hammel struck out seven, walked one and lowered his ERA to 1.73. He tied his career high with 10 strikeouts in his previous start.

The 6-foot-6 right-hander says he’s just pitching with a lot of confidence.

Here’s a video from Hammel’s latest gem.

Willie Bloomquist, leading off and playing shortstop for the Arizona Diamondbacks, got his regular season off to a good start on Friday night, leading off the first inning with a single off San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum and scoring on a Chris Young home run. Bloomquist added another hit in Arizona’s 5-4 win over the Giants.

But it was Wednesday’s final spring training game that made the hair stand up on Willie’s arms. Abe Chase, the 12-year-old fan who called a home run by Bloomquist in a game against the Giants last June, was in the stands at Chase Field and the South Kitsap grad and Port Orchard native responded with another homer — his first of the spring. “I might have to buy you season tickets if this continues,” Bloomquist texted Chase.Read the story here.

In case you missed the original story, here it is.

Other updates on Kitsap’s baseball pros:

Aaron Cunningham (South Kitsap) entered the game as a pinch-runner and was 0 for 2 for the Indians in a 7-4, 16-inning loss to Toronto.

Jason Hammel (South Kitsap) opens the year as the No. 3 starter in Baltimore’s rotation. He’ll make  his first start on Sunday. Look for a story on Monday as The Sun  has contracted with a freelance writer to cover Hammel’s debut.

Drew Vettleson (Central Kitsap) is 3 for 7 with two walks and an RBI in his first two games with the Bowling Green (Ky.) Hot Rods, the Tampa Bay Rays’ Class A team in the Midwest League. The outfielder is hitting No. 2 in the order.

Jared Prince (North Kitsap) of the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders was 1 for 3 with a double against the parent Texas Rangers in an exhibition on Wednesday. He faced Yu Darvish in his first at bat, popping up to second. Prince, playing right field and batting  No. 5 in the order is 0 for 8 after two regular-season games.

Todd Linden (Central Kitsap) started at first base and was at No. 4 in the batting order in the first two games for the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies, a San Francisco affiliate. Linden, a former first-round pick by the Giants, is trying to resurrect his career. He’s 1 for 9 after two games. Linden and Grizzlies come to Tacoma for a four-game series, April 21-22-23-24.

South Kitsap grad Aaron Cunningham will start the season as the fourth outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, who finalized their 25-man roster on Sunday.

Congratulations to Poulsbo’s Ryan Villopoto, who took all of the drama out of the AMA Supercross season when he wrapped up his second straight title with a win at Houston on Saturday. Here’s a post-race interview. He’s won eighth of 13 races and has not finished lower than fifth this year. He still has four races left, including an April 21 stop at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

Jason Hammel’s latest spring outing was a strong one as the Baltimore Orioles starter limited the Yankees to one run over 5.1 innings. Hammel has all but locked up a spot in Baltimore’s rotation.

Former Mariner Jamie Moyer, the ageless one, will begin the season as the Colorado Rockies’ No. 2 starter. Jack Quinn was 49 years, 74 days in 1932 when he won a game for Brooklyn; on opening day, Moyer will be 49 years, 139 days. Colorado will start Moyer against the Mariners, who will start Felix Hernandez, in a spring training game on Monday (ROOT, 1 p.m.)

Heard it through the grapevine:

Jason Ellison, the former South Kitsap star who played in the majors with the Giants, Mariners, Reds and Rangers, is the northwest scout for the Los Angeles Angels.

The Kitsap Stampede is considering moving the Xtreme Bulls event from Sunday to Wednesday night with the Sunday date at Thunderbird Stadium going back to the Demolition Derby. The rodeo performances would be Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Makes sense to me. The Xtreme Bulls would be a good kickoff to the week and put a lot of fannies in the stands on a night that traditionally doesn’t pack ‘em in.

Prediction: Kentucky 81, Kansas 70. Kentucky will be one of the few teams that really lives up to the hype. They’ve been tagged as the team to beat from the get-go and they won’t disappoint.

A real solid week for Troy Kelly at the Houston Open: 71-71-72-71—285 and a tie for 47th. Next for the CK grad: RBC Heritage starting April 12 at Harbor Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, S.C.

How do you spell F-O-C-U-S?  I.K. Kim missed a 1-footer —yes, 1-footer — to win the LPGA’s first major of the season — the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

While you’re here, I’ve got 10 things and a prediction for ya:

1) Silverdale’s Erynne Lee, a freshman at UCLA, is ranked No. 3 in Golf Week’s collegiate rankings after six tournaments. Duke’s Lindy Duncan and Sophia Popov of USC are 1-2 in the latest rankings. UCLA is the No. 1 team. Won’t be long before Lee’s cashing checks on the LPGA Tour.

2) Stephen Drew hasn’t  recovered from a nasty broken ankle suffered last July, and that means the Diamondbacks will run Willie Bloomquist out at shortstop when the defending NL West champions open the season at home against the Giants on Friday, April 6. For Bloomquist, the Port Orchard native who took over for Drew last season, it will be his first Opening Day start. Willie hit .266 a year ago, right near his career average.

3) College basketball’s madness returned to normal this year. No Butler. No George Mason. This year’s Final Four is all royalty: Kentucky, Ohio State, Kansas, Louisville. Kentucky’s the obvious favorite. If the Wildcats win the championship game by three points or 11, I’ll hoist one to Mike Gaffke, who is probably running a March Madness pool somewhere. Hell, even if they don’t win by that margin, I’ll hoist one to Mike Gaffke. I’ll forever think of Mike Gaffke this time of year.

4) Bremerton’s Marvin Williams earned his dough on Sunday, playing 44 minutes in Atlanta’s 139-133 four-overtime win against Utah. I thought it might be a career high for the 6-foot-9 forward. I was wrong. He played 51 minutes in an April 8, 2007 game against Philadelphia. Marvin scored 16 points and had nine rebounds last night. His career highs for points? 33 vs. the Sonics in Seattle on Jan. 25, 2008.

5) Olympic College basketball coach Barry Janusch tells me he’s got a line on a 6-foot-11 center from Arizona by way of Philadelphia, and a guard from Tennessee who tried out at UT-Chattanooga might be on his way to Bremerton.  Janusch, who doubles as the athletic director at the junior college, says he’s got some experienced candidates to sort through for the women’s basketball job that is open. He also told me that Seattle Community College is dropping its men’s and women’s basketball programs.

6) Aaron Cunningham’s still in contention to be Cleveland’s starting left fielder or the Indians fourth outfielder, but the South Kitsap grad hasn’t had the best of springs.  Manager Manny Acta has said the job will go to the player who hits and none of the candidates, including Cunningham, have stepped up at the plate. Cunningham, traded to Cleveland by San Diego, was at .210 with one RBI in 10 spring games at last check.

Another SK grad, Jason Hammel, seems to have cemented a spot in Baltimore’s starting rotation. He could wind up as the No. 3 starter for the Orioles. He’s pitched 11.2 innings and has a 3.09 ERA with 12 strikeouts, five walks and 10 hits allowed in four spring starts.

7) Olympic College’s Colin Yoshinaga, the Japanese player whose style of play reminds you a little of Ichiro, can make all of the plays in left field, has a strong arm and a knack for bunting his way on base. The lefty singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning in an 8-7 victory over Wenatchee Valley on Sunday.

It’s a wonder some big school hasn’t hired Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Shaka Smart. I’d hire him in an instant.

9) Warren Hood and the Goods. A really good band from Austin with a pretty good name. Marshall Hood and the Bads. His brother’s old band. Never saw ‘em, but great name.

10) The Seattle Seahawks’ new battle cry: “Flynn Forever.” We’ll see. QB Matt Flynn still has a lot to prove, but signing him for three years with $10 million guaranteed is a relatively low risk deal with potential for some big-time rewards. At the very least, they’ve upgraded the position. If Flynn wins the starting job, and he should, then Tavaris Jackson gives you some pretty good depth at the most vital position on the team.

Prediction: Next Kitsap-area baseball player to get a chance to play professional baseball? Tyler Baumgartner, former Central Kitsap standout and cousin of Drew Vettleson, the switch-pitching star now playing outfield in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Baumgartner had a monster year as a freshman outfielder at Bellevue CC, and is drawing a lot of interest from a lot of big-league teams. Tyler’s already signed with Oregon. If you want to see a sweet swing, you can watch him next Saturday when Bellevue takes on Olympic College at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds & Events Center. Doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.

Updates on Kitsap’s three major leaguers, all South Kitsap grads:

Willie Bloomquist is having another sensational spring. He was 2-for-3 for the D-backs on Wednesday and is hitting .411. Bloomquist has been used almost excluisively at second base and has been batting leadoff for the D’backs when he plays. Kelly Johsnon (.288, 26 home runs a year ago) is Arizona’s starter at second. But Bloomquist’s versatility — he’s played every position except pitcher and catcher — should get him a lot of playing time on this team.

Padres outfielder Aaron Cunningham was scratched from Wednesday’s game against the Brewers because of a high calf strain. It’s not a serious injury and he could be back by the weekend.  Cunningham’s hitting .321 and is in the  hunt to be the Padres’ fifth outfielder, but it looks more and more like he’ll start the season at Triple-A Portland because San Diego wants him to play everyday.

Jason Hammel is entrenched as the No. 4 starter for the Colorado Rockies. He’s a strike machine who gets a lot of groundballs. The 6-foot-6 right hander won double digit games the past two seasons, and his ERA has been below 5.00 since 2007. After signing a two-year, $7.75 million deal, this could be a breakout year for the pitcher who pounds the strike zone and gets a lot of groundball outs.