Crosspoint Academy baseball coach Derrin Doty doesn’t complain that his Warriors don’t play home games on campus, instead using the Kitsap County Fairgrounds.
He doesn’t whine that the team holds practices on the school’s undersized soccer field when the weather is nice, or inside the Chico Dome’s auxiliary gymnasium when it’s not.
In his fourth season coaching Crosspoint, Doty feels fortunate the school can even field a team. Baseball didn’t exist at Crosspoint until an anonymous donor gave the school $10,000 in 2016 in order to create a program.
Doty later learned that Kim Feir — parent of 2018 Crosspoint graduate Caitlin Feir — made the donation that gave life to the baseball team that will play Ocosta at Adna High School (10 a.m.) in the first round of the Class 2B state baseball tournament on Saturday.
“What a blessing,” said Doty, who coached Crosspoint’s girls soccer team to state titles in 2013 and ’14 before turning his attention to baseball.
Heading into the 2015-16 school year, Doty figured his two sons — Derrin Jr. and Thunderr — would have to play baseball for Central Kitsap High School. With Feir’s donation, it made it possible for the Doty clan to represent Crosspoint baseball.
“It was surprising and great timing,” Doty said.
Making it as far as the district playoffs in 2016 and ’17, Crosspoint (13-6) reached the state tournament in 2018 and made a quick departure following a 7-0 first-round loss to Kalama.
“We kind of lost the game before we got on the field,” said senior Derrin Doty Jr. “We were so intimidated and we had never been to state before.”
The Warriors don’t believe nerves will be an issue this time around despite the abundance of youth on the roster. Doty Jr. and Harrison McArdle are the two seniors on a team that includes no juniors, one sophomore in Gage Broderson, eight freshmen and one eighth-grader.
“Yeah, Gage grew up real quick,” Doty Jr. said. “Last year he was one of the young guys and he’s grown into a leader.”
With Doty Jr. unable to pitch due to a shoulder injury, Broderson earned the team’s No. 1 pitcher role and hasn’t disappointed. He’s 4-4 with a 2.12 earned run average and a 56/10 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 46.1 innings.
Freshman Thunderr Doty could be considered the team’s most valuable player. On the mound, he’s 5-2 with a 1.64 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 25 and 2/3 innings. As a hitter, Thunderr Doty leads the team with .549 batting average, 23 runs, 19 runs batted in. His 21 stolen bases are second to McArdle’s 32.
Realistic or not, coach Doty said he’d love to see Crosspoint’s grass soccer field transformed into a multi-use turf field one day. In the meantime, players don’t seem to mind the atypical training environment.
“It works and it’s pretty fun,” McArdle said. “You get used to it.”
On Tuesday, the Warriors began practicing outside until rain forced the team indoors. On one side, pitchers threw from a portable mound. On another side, batters took turns hitting soft-toss ball and swinging inside a netted cage.
The practice ended with game called Last Man Standing, where hitters take swings against the pitching machine and coaches provide thumbs up or thumbs down, depending on the quality of contact made.
“You have to do something creative every day, otherwise you lose their attention,” coach Doty said.
Each one of Crosspoint’s 12 players took turns hitting. By the end of the third round, four players remained.
“That a boy, Blake!” coach Doty said after freshman Blake Ellis smashed a line drive off a protective netting screen.
In the end, freshman Kyden Carr won the game with a hard-hit ball up the middle.
The Warriors could use those sort of swings on Saturday.
“I think we’ll be more ready this year,” coach Doty said.
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