Pitching will propel River Dogs
The River Dogs pitching staff plans to treat games in the Babe Ruth Senior World Series like any other game. From left to right: Derek Shoemaker, Michael Taylor, Chad Hunter, Michael Ratigan and Brandon Price.<br>David Smithburg/Columbia Basin Herald
Shoemaker will start game one for the Dogs
MOSES LAKE — The River Dogs play their first game of the Babe Ruth Senior World Series Saturday. Derek Shoemaker will start on the mound for the Dogs.
He leads a pitching staff that goes six deep with starters and has a closer in Sonny Garza who can throw the ball up to 86 miles per hour.
"Derek is the heart and soul of our pitching staff," head coach Randy Boruff said.
With six Boruff feels he has just as much, if not more, flexibility than any team in the series. In game two, if he is facing a team with speed that Boruff feels likes to steal a lot of bases he can put Chad Hunter on the mound.
Hunter is a lefty and has a quick move to first base that keeps runners honest, preventing them from getting to second base and into scoring position.
Boruff said a first game victory will mean he chooses his starter for the second game from Michael Ratigan, Jorge Reyes or Hunter. The availability of Reyes depends on when he last pitched in the Area Code Games in L.A. The games feature the projected top graduates of the 2005-2006 school year in high school.
If the team loses the first game and is thrust into the losers bracket they will have to play more games to reach the finals. That leaves Boruff using his entire staff which is filled out with Brandon Price and Michael Taylor.
When Boruff needs a final inning locked down he can bring in Garza to do the job. Best case scenario has Garza pitching just one inning at a time so he can bounce back quickly and Boruff can use him like a regular closer.
For the starters they require five days rest between starts, which makes it even better that Boruff is comfortable with going six deep in the pitching rotation.
Shoemaker is the exception. Boruff said that Shoemaker can bounce back quicker than the other starters and stay effective.
When asked if he feels like the ace of the staff, Shoemaker just responds that he doesn't feel the team has one.
For everyone on the staff, making it to a Babe Ruth Senior World Series is the pinnacle of their young baseball lives. All the pitchers share the mentality of wanting to do whatever it takes to win a ball game.
"We are brothers," Hunter said. "We bonded pretty quickly."
Some admit they may be in awe a little bit because it is the World Series, but they all swear that once the games start they will be ready to go.
"Same stuff, different day," Ratigan said.
They all came from very different high school programs to form a formidable pitching staff. Price, Hunter and Shoemaker are all from Moses Lake, Taylor is from Brewster, Ratigan is from Ephrata and Reyes is from Warden.
Their different personalities show through in each of their pitching styles. For instance, they all have a different favorite pitch or an 'out pitch' as they refer to it.
Shoemaker favors his curveball, while Hunter loves his changeup and says he can throw it at least 10 miles per hour slower than his fastball. Ratigan goes with the 'deuce' or curveball as his favorite pitch and Taylor says he swears by "the heat" or his fastball. Price will go with a curve if he has to choose.
All the pitchers give credit to the coaching staff for fostering the unselfish attitude that prevails among the players.