Oregon Tech and Lewis-Clark State split, Eastern Oregon swept British Columbia, and Bushnell and College of Idaho split.
Tyler Horner – photo by Peter Sherwood
At Klamath Falls, OR. First game: Oregon Tech 13, Lewis-Clark State 3. Halted by the mercy rule after seven innings. The game was tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the fifth. Warriors second baseman Pu’ukani De Sa bobbled what could have been a double play ball hit by Kyle Norton. Instead, two runs scored. Norton stole second, and Tyler Horner was intentionally walked. Julien Jones hit an RBI single, and Warrior starter Shane Spencer was relieved by Tucker Grote with the score 5-2. Grote didn’t record an out. He walked in a run, then gave up an RBI single to Alonzo Vergara. The next pitcher was Brennen Farber, and he gave up a three-RBI double by Ka’ala Tam. He got a ground out, then Patrick Barry hit a sacrifice fly for the ninth run of the inning, and the Hustlin’ Owls led 11-2. The Warriors got one back in the top of the sixth, but the Owls moved into mercy rule territory in the bottom of the sixth, with Horner scoring on a wild pitch and Ty Blakely getting an RBI on a ground out.
Horner finished 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, and three runs scored. Branson Chapple went the distance for the Owls, allowed six hits, struck out five.
Second game: Lewis-Clark State, Oregon Tech 5. The Hustlin’ Owls led 5-3 after two innings, but they were kept off the scoreboard the rest of the way by Jace Hanson and Landon Webb. The Warriors put it away with six runs in the sixth inning, with a two-RBI single by Jake Gish, a two-RBI single by Dominic Signorelli, and a two-RBI double by Jack Sheward. Hanson pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowed four hits, struck out two, got the win. Webb pitched the final two innings, allowed one hit. Brian McClelland, who pitched the sixth inning, got the loss. Sheward finished 3-for-4. Julien Jones finished 3-for-5 with a double for the Owls. recap
Tommy Whiles
At La Grande, OR. First game: Eastern Oregon 3, British Columbia 2. Most of this game was a pitching duel between Sean Heppner of the Thunderbirds, and Brock Cordes of the Mountaineers. Heppner pitched six innings, allowed one run on four hits, struck out four. Cordes went into the eighth inning, allowed two runs on six hits, struck out eight. His 131st pitch was to Mitchell Middlemiss, who hit a double that scored Trent Lenihan, and gave the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead. Cordes was relieved by Alex Farnsworth. He got a ground out and a foul out, and Middlemiss was stranded on third base. Joey Freitas opened the bottom of the eighth with a double off Vicarte Domingo, who relieved Heppner. Domingo walked the next batter, and Trevor Baker bunted the baserunners to second and third. Rogelio Gonzalez, the pinch runner for Freitas, scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Then, Tommy Whiles hit a single to give the Mountaineers a 3-2 lead and the win. Farnsworth then pitched a three-up three-down top of the ninth to preserve it.
The game was scoreless for the first four innings. The Thunderbirds scored a run in the top of the fifth innings with an RBI double by Russell Young. The Mountaineers answered with an RBI on a ground out by Parker Cumberland. Farnsworth, who didn’t allow a hit, got the win. Domingo got the loss. Cumberland went 2-for-4. Jonny McGill went 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base for the Thunderbirds.
Second game: Eastern Oregon 11, British Columbia 6. The Mountaineers led 5-4 going into the bottom of the sixth, and put it away with six runs. They came from a two-run home run by Youhyeon Choi, a three-run home run by Joey Freitas, and a solo home run by Mario Landeros. The first five runs were given up by Tyson Kilbreath, who took the mound at the start of the inning, and didn’t record an out.
Will Seslar nearly went the distance for the Mountaineers; he pitched 8 2/3 innings, allowed six runs on ten hits, struck out eight. Freitas finished 4-for-5 with a home run, a double, five RBI, and three runs scored. Trent Lenihan finished 3-for-4 for the Thunderbirds, hit a home run in the late going. Thunderbird starter Ryan Beitel got the loss. recap
At Springfield, OR. First game: Bushnell 3, College of Idaho 2. Both teams scored two runs in the first inning; the Coyotes with a two-RBI single by Jack Ingraham, the Beacons in an RBI triple by Ethan Stacy, who came home on a passed ball. Neither team scored again until the bottom of the seventh inning, when Jordan Wilson hit a sacrifice fly for the winning run. Four Beacons pitchers combined to hold the Coyotes to seven hits. Starter Taiga Yamane went four innings, allowed three of the hits, struck out five, but he also walked six, and gave up the only two runs. Alec Gums pitched the next three innings, allowed two hits, got the win. Colby Knutzen came on with two outs in the eighth, allowed one hit, struck out one, got a save. Dawson Cummings went the distance for the Coyotes, allowed only one earned run on eight hits, struck out nine, walked two. Isaiah Hart went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored for the Beacons. Jordan Kelly went 2-for-4 for the Coyotes.
Jordan Kelly – photo by Brad Lapp
Second game: College of Idaho 8, Bushnell 4. The Beacons led 4-3 after six innings, on two home runs by Jordan Wilson and one by Isaiah Hart. However, The Coyotes put it away with five runs in the top of the eighth; a two-RBI single by Jordan Kelly, a two-RBI double by Alex McFarland, and an RBI single by Darren Smith. Willy Shirts pitched a scoreless fifth inning for the Coyotes, allowed one hit, struck out one. Jackson Cummings went the rest of the way, allowed one hit, struck out one, got the win. The Beacons used five pitchers; Garrett Vohs got the loss. Kelly finished 5-for-6 with a double, three RBI, and two runs scored. Hart finished 2-for-4. recap
The Beacons and Coyotes split the series with two games apiece.
