RiverDogs on to regionals after wild weekend

Columbia Basin tries to earn spot in Babe Ruth World Series

EPHRATA — The Columbia Basin RiverDogs have won 78 percent of their games this season.

But according to manager Randy Boruff, his team hasn't played as well as its record would indicate. This summer's group lacks the talent Boruff has seen in other Babe Ruth squads he has coached, and they've made up for it in other areas.

"What we've been operating with is lots of heart and scrappiness," Boruff said Monday. "They don't quit and you just hope there's one more weekend of that."

Columbia Basin displayed its blue-collar qualities during last weekend's RiverDog Invitational at Ephrata High School. Though they finished with a fourth-place mark of 3-3, falling short of a championship game berth, there are reasons to believe the team is capable of winning this week's Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament and earning a spot in the eight-team Babe Ruth World Series next month.

"It wouldn't surprise me for this team to win the regional tournament," Boruff said. "I could see us winning the regional tournament as easy as I could see us stumbling, too."

The RiverDogs opened their invitational with an 8-5 loss to Lakeside Recovery last Thursday night. They won their next three games, however, knocking off Tacoma's North Corner Tribe, the Spokane Dodgers and the Everett RiverDogs.

Colby Melburn provided the highlight in the win over Everett, Boruff noted, stealing home for the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was a decision Melburn made without any prompting from the coaching staff.

The RiverDogs fell behind 5-0 in Sunday morning's game with Chaffey Baseball of Seattle, but scored once in the third, twice in the sixth and twice in the seventh. Neither team could break the deadlock until the 14th inning, when Chaffey used an RBI triple and a two-run home run to win 8-5.

Curran Redal's final appearance in a RiverDog uniform was one to remember. He came on in relief and held Chaffey scoreless for 10 1/3 innings before succumbing. Redal, who has played four years with the RiverDogs, is ineligible for the Pacific Northwest tournament.

The loss to Chaffey put Columbia Basin into a must-win situation against North Corner on Sunday. North Corner won 9-5, knocking the RiverDogs out of championship contention.

"My kids were kind of exhausted after playing 14 innings," Boruff said.

Chaffey took first place, winning Sunday's championship over Lakeside Recovery.

Columbia Basin opens regional play Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. All regional games take place at Ephrata's Johnson-O'Brien Stadium.

The RiverDogs face the South Washington district champions, who weren't determined until Monday evening. Ryder Construction of Vancouver is one possibility, and is a team Boruff has some familiarity with. Cory Hitchcock will likely get the RiverDogs' starting assignment on the mound.

With a 39-11 overall record heading into regionals, and having played some of the state's top teams this summer, Boruff is confident his players are prepared. The tournament combines 10 teams in a round-robin format, with the top two teams in each of the two divisions advancing to the championship bracket that culminates on Monday.

Other regional competitors include district champions from Alberta, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming.

"I don't think we'll see any competition at the regional level that we haven't seen throughout the whole year," Boruff said.