Stage one of World Series journey

Junior River Dogs battled Senior River Dogs in exhibition game

The only thing standing between the Columbia Basin Junior River Dogs and the 16-year old Babe Ruth World Series is time.

And Tuesday night was the Senior River Dogs at Larson Field. The two teams squared off against each other in an exhibition game to prepare the junior team for the World Series in Loudon County, Va. starting Saturday, Aug. 14.

The Senior River Dogs got the best of the Junior River Dogs, taking the game 5-1 behind the arms of some of their more dominant pitchers. Josh Walker, Derek Shoemaker and Jared Theis pitched nine innings of two-hit ball. Not the kind of preparation the Junior River Dogs wanted, but gave Chuck Hansen, Junior River Dog manager, an idea of what to expect in Virginia.

"A lot of these guys coming from smaller schools probably haven't seen a ball move that fast and I wanted them to see that," Hansen said.

Senior River Dog manager Randy Boruff said they weren't about to let up on the junior team.

"We threw some heavy stuff at them," Boruff added.

But, there still is hope. Boruff added that the strengths of the Junior River Dogs match up well with the 1995 and 1998 teams.

"What I like about this team is two things. One they have good pitching for 16-year-olds," Boruff said. "They are really athletic and the question is will they get the clutch hit to win them ball games and not give up errors that really hurt them."

The game was about getting some time at the plate against some tougher pitching, put as many pitchers on the mound as possible and work on defensive alignments.

Assuring Hansen and the rest of the crew that the run for hardware is still a possible situation.

"When it comes to game time, these guys will be all dialed in and ready," Hansen said.

Hansen threw seven pitchers, allowing each pitcher at least one inning, but maintaining a 20-pitch count regiment for the game. The defense stood strong, allowing one run on an error, while converting one double play and finishing the game with Currin Redal robbing Josh Walker of an extra base hit, making a play at the left field wall.

The only thing that was of concern to Boruff was hitting. He said pitching and defense were there, but the timely hitting was what would allow the Junior River Dogs to go far into the series.

"I was hoping they would hit a little bit better and they need to hit better if they want to do well at the tournament," Boruff said.

The Junior River Dogs have a bye on the first day of the tournament, and will have an opportunity to scout their competition before starting tournament play on Sunday, Aug. 15.

The tentative pitching rotation for the pool play period starts Sunday with Mike Ratigan, Jorge Reyes for Monday, Eric Sorensen on Tuesday and Adriane Villa finishing the pool play section on Wednesday. Once Hansen has a chance to scout the other teams, he said the order may change, but with his pitching depth, he feels confident that he can match up the right guy with the other teams line up.

"I am blessed with a lot of arms, they are not all starters, but they can all go a couple of inning," Hansen said.

Columbia Basin will open against the Virginia state champions Northern Fairfax, who qualified for the World Series by defeating Williamsburg, Va. 14-2 in five innings.

The River Dogs will need to finish in the top three of their division for a birth into Thursday's championship round.

"They all talk that they are going there to win it," Hansen said. "There is no talk about going to play four games and coming home. They ask me that same question and I say my chances are as good as anybody, if not better."