The British Columbia Thunderbirds won their first conference championship since 2015.
Oregon Tech 5, Lewis-Clark State 4 (Lewis-Clark State eliminated)
The Hustlin’ Owls scored all of their runs in the bottom of the second inning. Sean Tobin started it with an RBI single, then Korrey Siracusa hit a grand slam home run. The Warriors got three runs in the top of the fourth inning on a two-run home run by Charlie Updegrave and a sacrifice fly by Dominic Signorelli. They didn’t score again until the top of the ninth inning, when Isaiah Thomas hit a home run with one out. However, reliever Braeden Bellum struck out the next two batters to end it.
The Owls missed a couple of chances to extend their lead. They had runners at first and second with nobody out in the sixth inning, but that threat ended with a botched bunt attempt, a baserunner picked off, and another baserunner caught stealing. In the seventh, they had the bases loaded with one out, but left them loaded after an infield fly and a strikeout.
The Owls got a great start from Lalo Barraza, who pitched six innings, allowed three runs on four hits, struck out six, got the win. They got an even better performance from Bellum, who went the rest of the way and got a save. The only hit he allowed was the Thomas home run, and he struck out six. He was helped by a big double play in the top of the seventh. Jace Hanson, who was pulled after the Siracusa grand slam, got the loss. Joe Ball pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowed four hits, struck out two. Cameron Smith held the Owls hitless the final three innings, struck out three. Updegrave and Thomas both had two hits, and they were the only players with more than one hit. Box Score
This is the first time that Lewis-Clark State hasn’t won this tournament since 2019.
British Columbia 11, Oregon Tech 7
The Hustlin’ Owls hit four home runs, and led 5-4 going into the bottom of the fourth, but the Thunderbirds got a three-run home tun in the bottom of the sixth, followed by another home run by Jonny McGill, and led 10-5. Noah Or added a solo home run in the seventh, but the Thunderbirds were still not in the clear. The Owls opened the top of the eighth with a single by Ka’ala Tam, a walk by Bryce Petrilla, and a single by Ian Peters. Thunderbird reliever Kellen Bourne then walked in a run. He was relieved by Vicarte Domingo, and he walked in another run. So, two runs in, no outs, bases loaded, and the tying run at the plate. Bourne proceeded to strike out Korrey Siracusa and Tyler Horner (the called third strike on Horner was suspect). The next batter, Julien Jones, had been terrorizing Thunderbird pitching. He hit a sharp ground ball to Mike Fitzsimmons at shortstop, and Fitzsimmons made a good play to snag it and toss to second for the force out to end the inning. Vicarte then retired all three batters he faced in the top of the ninth, striking out two of them, and the Thunderbirds won the tournament.
Starter Ryan Beitel got the win. He gave up a two-run home run by Alonzo Vergara in the first inning, a solo home run by Peters in the second inning, a solo home run by Jones in the third inning, and another solo home run by Peters in the fourth inning. However, he was able to keep the Owls off the board in the fifth and sixth innings, giving the Thunderbirds the chance to get a big lead. He actually allowed only six hits, and struck out seven; he threw 91 pitches. Bourne pitched the seventh inning and faced four batters in the eighth, was charged with two runs on four hits, struck out one. Owls reliever Ryan Poling, who gave up six runs, got the loss.
McGill finished 4-for-5 with a home run and a double. Or finished 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBI. (The double was in the second inning, and drove in two runs. It was significant in keeping the Thunderbirds close during the barrage of Owls home runs.) Jones and Peters both finished 3-for-4. Box score
