Dogs drop first game of tournament, 4-1

Team must shake off loss, defeat Calgary tonight to stay alive

EPHRATA — A slider from the Beaverton, Ore. Ringor starting pitcher puzzled the River Dogs into a first game defeat at the Babe Ruth Senior Regional Tournament in Ephrata, by a score of 4-1.

"We did not make adjustments," head coach Randy Boruff said. "The guys out pitch was the slider. You like to see someone go with it and hit it into the opposite field."

The River Dogs did not have any opposite field hits the entire game.

One loss does not spell doom for the Dogs. They will play again tonight in Ephrata at 8 p.m. against the Calgary Blues of Alberta.

That is the message Boruff sent to his team yesterday after the defeat.

"We told them not to worry about it and worry about the next game," Boruff said.

He liked what he saw out of starting pitcher Jorge Reyes. He pitched a complete game and scattered five hits.

"They only had one hard hit ball," Boruff said. "Jorge, from the fourth inning on, got rolling."

Reyes started off slow as Beaverton struck first with 2 runs in the top of the first inning.

It took the River Dogs one inning to respond. In the second Michael Rodriguez led off with a base hit and advanced to second base on a wild pitch.

Brad Tracy came up and with one out got a base hit to score Rodriguez for the Dogs' first run.

Reyes and the River Dogs ran into trouble in the third inning. The first two batters for Beaverton both scored as unearned runs. It was the only mistake in the game for the Dogs but put them in a three run deficit, 4-1.

The River Dogs started a rally in the fifth inning when short stop Severo Rodriguez led off the inning with a walk.

The next batter hit a sacrifice bunt to get Severo into scoring position.

Boruff decided to use a pinch hitter for the next batter and he got a base hit past the reach of the Beaverton short stop.

Severo tried to score from second base but the left fielder made a near perfect throw that beat Severo to the plate. He was called out after the tag and after the play it took some wind out of the River Dogs' sails.

"I told him to go and the guy made a great throw," Boruff said. "They played us kind of shallow in the outfield. We probably needed a gapper."

Beaverton made quick work of the Dogs for the rest of the inning and the next two. They had just one base runner in each inning and did not advance either one to second base.

"We had missed opportunities," Boruff said. "I would like to play them again on Sunday."

In order to advance to championship Sunday the River Dogs will need to place either first or second in their pool.

They have their most consistent starting pitcher, Derek Shoemaker, on the mound tonight to face the Calgary Blues of Alberta.