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By Ben McCarty
News staff writer
May 20, 2008
Through five innings the Hood River Valley baseball team hung
with the Tualatin Timberwolves virtually blow-for-blow.
In the sixth, the Timberwolves finally did what the No. 2 team
in the state is supposed to do: They took over.
Tualatin scored six times in the inning to give pitcher Mitchel
Lambson plenty of cushion to finish off the Eagles in the
following inning and send the Timberwolves to the second round
with a 9-2 win.
If not for a series of mental miscues the Eagles would have
likely gone into the final inning with at least a fighting
chance.
“We let some errors get us today,” HRV pitcher Travis Carratt,
who held the Timberwolves to two runs before the sixth inning,
said.
Eagle outfielders lost several balls in the sun, including two
that skittered by a diving Brandon Nelson in center field, and
Jordan Bryant was picked off first base with a runner on second
with one out in the sixth.
The Eagles struggled to find ways to score against Lambson,
getting both their runs in the second when Bryant led off the
inning with a double and Sam Kopecky followed with a single.
After Kopecky stole second, Bryant came in to score on a wild
pitch and Kopecky moved up to third.
Dylan Tiss then laid down a bunt single and Kopecky slid under
the tag of Tualatin catcher John Grill for the Eagles’ second
run.
However, Lambson then settled down and allowed only four hits
the rest of the way with the Eagles never getting a runner past
second base.
“I think after that he kind of got into our guys’ heads a bit,”
Albertson said. “They began to start thinking that is Lambson,
the kid who is committed to ASU.”
It was a particularly brutal day for the middle of the Eagles
lineup, with the No. 4, 5 and 6 hitters combining to go
1-for-10.
The Eagles were led at the plate by Kopecky, Bryant and Thomas
Nickel, who all went 2-for-3.
“Our guys saw we were just as good as them,” HRV coach Chris
Albertson said. “We just gave the game to them. We had some
pretty routine mistakes that kept us out of the ball game.”
Even with the defensive mistakes, the Eagles got several
brilliant plays on defense that also at least gave them a chance
to stay in it.
In the bottom of the fourth, Tualatin’s Cody Gibson tripled to
lead off the inning. Brian Symonds followed with a high chopper
to Tiss at third. Tiss pump faked a throw to first, and when
Gibson broke for home, he threw to catcher Thomas Nickel, who
tagged Gibson out as he tried to get back to third base.
The Eagles got out of the fifth inning with a double play turned
from Mendiola to Bryant to Kopecky .
They got out of the disastrous sixth inning with the combination
of an error followed by a strong play.
With two outs, Nickel tried to pick George off first base, but
the throw went into right field. A strong throw by Rowley cut
down Mark Lambson trying to score from second.
The loss ended the best season in recent history for HRV, and
even though they could not find a way to upset Tualatin, they
walked away proud of what they have accomplished this season,
particularly after everything they had to overcome to get to
state.
“Like I told these guys in the huddle, we went through a lot of
adversity this season,” Alberston
said. “A lot
of teams would have folded, but they didn’t; they battled
through."
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