When a player like University of Washington commit Orlando Young takes the mound, Federal Way High School head baseball coach Ron Sherwin knows what is to come — a calm, collective, flame thrower who shows no quarrel and oozes confidence with the ball in his hand.

“It’s a good feeling, especially when you throw that first pitch, you know it’s game time,” Young said.

Sherwin got that Orlando from the jump against Graham-Kapowsin on March 18, albeit for a short outing. But Young looked impressive in his two innings of work.

“He works really hard, sometimes a little too hard. It’s hard to get him out of the bullpen without kicking him out. I think he’s recognizing what he is going to be doing after this spring and where he is going to be going. He’s realizing what it takes to compete there,” Sherwin said.

Federal Way scored the first two runs of the contest before Graham-Kawposin went on to score five unanswered runs and win 5-2 on March 18.

“We had a number of young kids in the lineup who were over matched last year. I feel like they are in a better spot this year, a couple of them showed better at-bats and a better approach at the plate. We can’t compete with six base runners, so we’ve got some work to do,” Sherwin said.

Senior Thomas Holden scored both runs for the Eagles, coming around to score on an error in the first and on an RBI ground out from Titus Gillihan in the third. Holden sets the table for the Eagle offense. Young and Lankford batting second and third it is vital for him to reach base. Both times he got on against Graham-Kapowsin, he scored.

“He has to be the table setter. The reason the two of them hit at the top is because I want them to hit as much as possible. They are the fuel in our engine. Thomas has been an impressive player all four years,” Sherwin said.

Young’s two innings went by in a flash. He managed to escape trouble in the first, striking out a pair, leaving runners on second and third. Over his two innings of work, Young threw 38 pitches, 25 of them strikes, allowed one hit, one walk and struck out five.

“I was pretty comfortable, just trying to play as loose as I can. There were a lot of emotions, especially since it’s the first game of my last season. Emotions were running wild. I was excited,” Young said.

Despite taking a two-run lead early, the Federal Way offense just couldn’t find much consistency. Young had a single in the bottom of the third inning, which ended up being the only hit of the afternoon for Federal Way. A Federal Way batter reached base just six times against Graham-Kapowsin.

To improve on the offensive side, Sherwin noted that it happens before a batter even steps into the box.

“We spend a lot of time trying to get the boys to understand not just an approach, but why an approach is important,” Sherwin said.

“As a hitter we have got to gather as much intel as we can before we get to the plate. You can’t hit at any level with the ‘grip it and rip it’ plan. We want to try to really understand what the pitcher is trying to do,” Sherwin added.

Freshman Cam Noel made his Federal Way debut in the first game of the season. He debuted at shortstop and later entered the game to pitch the final three innings. Noel allowed three runs, but just one was earned, struck out three and gave up four hits.

“I was really impressed…We saw today that he has a lot of upside,” Sherwin said.

Young has been a starter at Federal Way since his freshman year, and he remembers what it felt like to be in Noel’s shoes.

“It was great to see him make his debut. I have known him since Little League, and he used to be really small back then… He was great at pitching, doing what needed to be done. He was throwing strikes and getting outs,” said Young.

One game is nothing to overreact to — there are 19 games left for Federal Way with plenty of time for adjustments and improvements. The focus is on being present and playing with confidence.

“We just need to try and play free, not to try and think too much. We don’t have to set any standard too high, but just play at our level,” Young said.

Orlando Young gets in the box in the third inning. Ben Ray / The Mirror