On to Ohio!

RiverDogs take eighth regional title in 13 seasons

EPHRATA — Columbia Basin RiverDogs manager Randy Boruff has said all season he wasn't sure how good his squad really was.

Monday night, his players proved they were good enough to earn a regional championship.

The RiverDogs sewed up their eighth trip to the Babe Ruth World Series in Boruff's 13 years with the program, beating the Seattle Baseball Academy Buzz 5-3 in the championship game of the Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament at Johnson-O'Brien Stadium.

The victory moved the RiverDogs' overall record to 44-12 and sends them to the 16-18-year-old World Series in Newark, Ohio. Columbia Basin opens the tournament next Thursday, Aug. 9.

"I didn't know how good this team was," Boruff reiterated as his team celebrated on the field afterward. "Obviously, we're the Northwest regional champs, so we're pretty good."

The Dogs have had a tendency to start fast this summer, and Monday was no different. After the Buzz went ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning by scoring on three singles against Zack Swart, Basin quickly countered.

Mark Garza crushed a 1-1 pitch from Taylor Stark over the left-field fence, tying the score. A walk, hit batter and single loaded the bases, and Cory Hitchcock lofted a fly ball into shallow right field. Buzz outfielder Shane Elliott couldn't hold on for a basket catch, giving the Dogs two unearned runs and a 3-1 lead they'd never relinquish.

Basin made it 4-1 an inning later as Edward Rodriguez led off with a single. Garza grounded out, but first baseman Jerett Hardy tried to nail a hustling Rodriguez digging for third and instead threw it away, giving the Basin catcher an easy path home.

Rodriguez was named the tournament's Offensive Most Valuable Player. The Warden native hit .526 (10 for 19), scored seven runs and drove in four. Buzz pitcher Luke Goodgion, who finished 2-0 with 16 strikeouts, was the Defensive MVP.

The Dogs knocked out Stark in the fourth after Colby Melburn reached on a bunt base hit, stole second and scored on Chase Hunter's single. Swart handled things from there, stranding seven Buzz runners in the final four innings.

Swart, who played in the 1A state championship game with Naches Valley this spring, said winning a Babe Ruth regional title is a bit different — but plenty exciting.

"School ball is different — the competition here is a lot harder," Swart said. "It's going to be fun (going to Ohio). We're gonna go over there and compete and represent Washington state and just have a good time."

The Buzz picked up 12 hits off Swart, but never inflicted serious damage. Swart's game plan was to mix things up and he did just that, spotting his curve ball for first-pitch strikes and blowing the occasional fastball past his foes. He struck out seven and walked two.

Swart did have to work out of serious trouble in the final two innings.

In the sixth, the Buzz loaded the sacks with no outs and trimmed their deficit to 5-3 on Nate Ware's RBI single. Swart didn't let it get worse, catching Cole Zamira on a called third strike and enducing an easy groundout.

SBA again mounted a rally in the seventh, moving the tying runs into scoring position with two outs on a pair of base hits and a wild pitch. Swart got Cameron Smith to ground to third, with JR Jarrell making the tag on a wide throw at first. The RiverDogs immediately threw their equipment in the air and swarmed Swart at the mound.

While Boruff isn't sure what the team's result will be at the World Series, he knows he's got a dugout full of guys who won't quit.

"We've never had a losing record at a World Series and I don't plan on it now," he said. "That just speaks volumes for our organization."

RiverDogs 6, Blues 5

In Monday's first semifinal game, Basin nearly coughed up a sizable early lead as the Calgary Blues, the tournament's defending champion, scored twice in the sixth inning to tie the score at 5-all.

But using their flair for the dramatic, the Dogs struck for the winner in the bottom of the seventh. Calgary pitcher Jesse Sawyer hit Rodriguez with his first pitch of the frame and Swart bunted him to second. Derrick Webb was intentionally walked, bringing Matt Valdez to the plate.

Rodriguez immediately took off for third, and the catcher's ensuing throw bounded past the third baseman, allowing him to score as his teammates poured out of the dugout.

Basin jumped on Sawyer during a three-run first, getting a single from Hunter and a double from Hitchcock to start. Swart's two-out single brought both home, and Webb smashed an infield hit off the shortstop's glove for the third run.

The Blues countered in the second, loading the bases with one out against Hitchcock. Fraser Armstrong smoked a ball through the box, plating two runners and bringing Calgary within a run.

But Basin got those two runs back in their half, as Melburn led off with a double high off the left-field wall. Hunter slapped Sawyer's next pitch inside the first-base bag for an RBI double, and Rodriguez singled one out later to make it 5-2.

Calgary trimmed the lead once more in the third as Rob Papworth singled, moved to third on a wild pitch and balk, and scored on Spencer Bajnok's groundout.

The score didn't change again until the sixth, but that's when things got downright wild.

Calgary's Blake Carruthers homered to start the sixth, chasing Hitchcock in favor of Hunter. Sawyer and Tom Hades each singled, and Hunter was called for a balk. However, after much deliberation prompted by Boruff's argument, the umpires reversed their decision and sent the runners back.

Calgary tied the scored on Kevin Kobe's two-out single, but the reversed balk call probably cost the Blues the go-ahead score.

In the Basin sixth, Hunter coaxed a one-out walk and moved to second on Hitchcock's single. Jarrell then chopped a ball to third, where the Calgary defender stepped on the bag for the force out and threw to first for the attempted double play.

The throw was wild, however, and Hitchcock made a beeline for home. Calgary chased down the ball and was able to gun down Hitchcock as he tried to slide under the catcher's tag.