Riverdogs open up Series with two wins
EPHRATA - Well so much for being just a host team.
The Columbia Basin RiverDogs have shown the rest of the field in the 2011 Babe Ruth World Series just how serious their title chances are after taking their first two games in pool play.
First, they won in dramatic fashion on Saturday, 4-3 over Ottumwa (Iowa) and followed that up with a resounding, if not, incredibly odd, 8-4 thrashing of San Gabriel Valley last night.
The two wins put the RiverDogs at 2-0 in the American Division and in the driver's seat for a spot in the single elimination playoff round which begins Thursday.
Tonight, the RiverDogs play the defending champions, Mobile (Ala.), at 8 p.m.
"I would say that when you looked at the pool and who San Gabriel is, I figured we'd be 1-1 and if we slipped we could have been 0-2," RiverDogs manager Randy Boruff said. "To be 2-0 is huge. We have the advantage now on Mobile because we played San Gabriel already. They had the wheels basically come off in just one inning. That is a good team."
In their half of the second, San Gabriel Valley broke the scoring seal when Andrew Medina singled home Troy Prasertsit, who walked to lead off, and the Californians led 1-0.
Medina, who had been sacrificed to second, came home when Mark Saatzer doubled one batter later and it was 2-0 for San Gabriel against RiverDogs' starter Stockton Taylor (Brewster).
"I told Stockton he needed to change some things or I would have to take him out," Boruff said. "He decided to turn his hips and make his fast ball a little faster and give his slider a bigger break. He answered the bell."
The RiverDogs may have scored in their top of the third when Davis Engel (Skagit Valley CC) drew a one-out walk. But, Engel was picked off at first base and three pitches later Cameron Alvarado (Moses Lake) doubled only to be stranded on the bags.
Taylor started finding his rhythm in the bottom of the third inning striking out three consecutive San Gabriel batters, but a wild pitch allowed the last of the trio to advance to first base. Luckily, he was able to get out of the inning by recording a baseball anomaly, striking out a fourth batter in the inning.
Then things really got interesting.
Thanks to five San Gabriel errors and some aggressive hitting and baserunning, the RiverDogs came alive in the top half of the fourth.
Chris Walker (Naches Valley) walked, Josh Snider (Ephrata) singled and Jacob Yamane (Warden) walked to load the bases.
San Gabriel's KJ Edson struck out Matt Noyola (Moses Lake) setting the stage for what could easily be called baseball madness.
Othello's Amando DeLeon hit a sharp bouncer to Edson who threw to catcher Brennan Salgado who made an attempt to touch home plate and make the throw to first base for an inning ending double play.
Sadly for Salgado that wasn't quite what happened in reality.
Instead, Salgado missed home, overthrew the first baseman, and the right fielder let the ball squirt past him and DeLeon had been a part of what amounted to a bases clearing fielder's choice for the RiverDogs to take a 3-2 lead.
"If they make that play we don't score that inning," Boruff said. "That was the game, that play was the game. Salgado unfortunately could have taken his time to step on the plate and throw to first. I couldn't believe it happened the way that it happened."
After that, Ricco Moreno (Big Bend/Moses Lake) singled but got thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double and the RiverDogs were down to two outs and a one-run lead.
Thankfully San Gabriel was in the mood to stay on the field.
Davis Engel (Skagit Valley CC) singled to bring home DeLeon and it was 4-2.
Cameron Alvarado (Moses Lake) walked and Taylor got on after a failed San Gabriel fielding play, which brought home Engel after the defense was slow securing the force at second and Alvarado came home on another error, making it 6-2 RiverDogs.
Walker singled and Taylor would score on the final San Gabriel error and it was 7-2 as the inning wrapped two batters later.
San Gabriel got one back in their half of the fourth, but those good feelings went over the left field wall at Johnson-O'Brien, when DeLeon knocked a Ted Boeke 0-2 pitch out of the park and the RiverDogs led 8-3.
Both teams would throw a scare or two at the other but all that amounted was an extra, superfluous run for San Gabriel as the RiverDogs held on.
Taylor finished up going 5.1 innings to earn the win as he struck out seven batters.
Cody Johns (Naches Valley) came in to relieve Taylor and struck out two to earn the save.
DeLeon had a team-high two hits to led the RiverDogs' offense.
Medina led all hitters with three hits,
In their Saturday opening win against Ottumwa, the RiverDogs used timely play making and the pitching of Engel to survive a rally and pull out a dramatic win.
Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the RiverDogs (40-20 on the season) got the frame started with Walker's third hit of the night as he singled to get their winning at bat going.
Johnny Navarro (Quincy) pinch ran for Walker and eventually got to third after Tony Hernandez (Moses Lake) laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt which allowed him to earn an infield hit, putting runners on the corners with no outs.
After Yamane struck out it was left to Bryton Redal (Moses Lake) and the Chiefs alum laid down a first base side suicide squeeze and Navarro beat the throw home and the RiverDogs had their first win of the World Series in the books.
"I thought it was a necessary win for us just because we had a big crowd especially for the local team winning," Boruff said. "It's good for talk to have people say the Dogs are competitive and we want to go see them again from a tournament director's perspective. From a manager's view, we won it with bunting and any time you have two or three guys get on base with speed you put pressure on the defense because they have to move to cover that speed. If they are moving it makes the ball sometimes move where you don't want it to and throw the ball away."
In the bottom of the first inning, Taylor hit a two-out triple and would head home on an Ottumwa throwing error to give the RiverDogs a 1-0 lead.
Engel did a solid job all night not allowing the Ottumwa offense to get too comfortable but in the third inning he suffered through his first hiccup.
Jake Stalzer doubled and advanced to third on a RiverDogs error. He would then score on a Tyler Evans groundout at the game was tied at 1-1.
Yet, the RiverDogs showed some fight to rally back immediately and they also were aided by a game changing injury.
Alvarado doubled to start the frame and then Walker hit a strong comebacker that rocked Ottumwa starting pitcher Calvin Matthews on the ankle.
Hobbling, Matthews watched as his third baseman Jordan Heckenberg tried to make the play but threw the ball wild of first base and Alvarado scored to make it 2-1 in favor of the hosts.
"He was starting to figure out what he wanted to throw," Ottumwa manager Cal Evans said. "The error was uncalled for on the play, but he's the kind of kid that throws the whole game. He was figuring out things as he went and the boys have a lot of faith in Calvin. I think our wind was taken out of our sails."
Craig Larkin came in to relieve Matthews and got his team out of the inning thanks in part to Walker being thrown out at home for the inning's second out.
In the bottom of the fourth inning the RiverDogs extended their lead to 3-1.
Noyola reached on an error and would move to second on a wild pitch by Larkin. Ricco Moreno (Big Bend CC/Moses Lake) bunted Noyola to third and the RiverDogs' catcher would come home on another fielding error by Ottumwa.
"We are what we said we are," Boruff said. "We play small ball and these guys are starting to believe. We can compete with this field as easy as not advancing past pool play, but the guys believe they can do it."
Engel appeared in control but he seemed to tire in the top of the sixth and Ottumwa took advantage with a two-out rally.
Andrew Utterback singled, J.C. Salter walked, and Austin Westercamp singled home Utterback to make the score 3-2.
Mac Matke then singled home Salter and the game was tied at 3-3.
Stalzer was then forced into a ground out and Engel was out of the inning.
Engel (1-0), who threw 112 pitches, struck out his last two batters in the seventh to finish with six punch outs and he helped set the stage for the dramatic finish. He gave up seven hits and walked two in the complete game performance.
"I thought he was typical Davis Engel that even when he doesn't have his best stuff he still competes real well," Boruff said. "He competes and he wins. His makeup is that he is a very confident kid and he's been battles the last two, three years, so this isn't new for him."
Walker led the RiverDogs' offense with three of their seven hits while they were helped by five Ottumwa errors while they committed three of their own.
"The errors were what made the difference in the game," Evans said. "We went through our regional tournament without any errors and that's why we came out on top. I've seen that much speed before, but I was impressed more with how the RiverDogs' boys hit with a lot of power, a lot of pressure. I knew this hometown team wasn't[going to be easy to beat. They are a talented bunch of boys and are well coached.
DAY TWO RECAP
AMERICAN DIVISION
Mobile (Ala.) 10
Onondaga (NY) 0
Well being the last team to play at this year's World Series did nothing for Mobile's rhythm.
The undefeated, defending World Series champions, opened with a resounding 10-0, five-inning, mercy rule win over Okandaga (NY), handing the east coast squad its first loss.
NATIONAL DIVISION
Portland (Ore.) 7
Cape Cod (Mass.) 0
A Tanner Scott grand slam in the top of the seventh inning was more than enough to give Portland the cushion it needed to cruise to a 7-0 win over Cape Cod, the last team to start play in the National Division.
Portland is now 2-0 in pool play following a narrow win on Saturday.
Noblesville (Ind.) 6
Puget Sound (Wash.) 2
Needing a win to give themselves a chance to stay alive for a spot in the playoff rounds, the team from Noblesville dug deep and took down the Puget Sound Roxx 6-2 to even both teamss' pool play records at 1-1.
Noblesville scored two runs in each of the first two innings to take an early 4-0 lead.
DAY ONE RECAP
AMERICAN DIVISION
Onondaga (NY) 3
San Gabriel Valley (Calif.) 2
The tournament got under way with what some considered an upset as San Gabriel Valley, a multiple World Series champion, fell 3-2 to a game Onondaga squad on Saturday morning.
After both teams' offense got off to slow starts it wasn't until the bottom of the fourth inning when Onondaga scored all three of their runs and then held off a late rally to win.
Pat Wright hit a two-RBI single in the crucial inning to give Onondaga a 2-0 lead. David Campese singled in the next Onondaga at bat putting runners on the corners. Then San Gabriel Valley pitcher Daniel Zamora (0-1) balked moving the runners 90 feet forward, scoring Wright, and the New Yorkers led 3-0.
Pitcher Ryan O'Kane kept his Okandaga side ahead despite the opposition's small attempts in the next few innings to put a dent in the deficit.
San Gabriel Valley finally got on the board in the top of the seventh when Brennan Salgado hit a solo home run and Elliott Surrey's double led to him scoring on Martin Gallegos' single.
NATIONAL DIVISION
Portland (Ore.) 4
Noblesville (Ind.) 3
in eight innings
Two games into the 2011 World Series and some believed another Cinderella story may have been in the cards.
Noblesville came out strong, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning against defending runners-up Portland and led 3-1 after the teams' first at bats.
From there, Noblesville pitcher Aaron Beaver held off Portland, taking a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning.
It was there when Portland showed its championship pedigree.
The Oregon representatives scored once in the seventh to tie the game and again in the eighth to win 4-3 to avoid the upset loss.
Puget Sound (Wash.) 11
Eagle Pass (Texas) 3
A number of errors offset a strong start for Eagle Pass who saw Puget Sound gain momentum in the middle innings for an 11-3 route in the teams' World Series opener.
Eagle Pass led 3-1 after the top of the fourth inning after Devon Torres' two-run home run brought home he and Juan Del Bosque.
But then they booted away their momentum with three errors in the bottom half of the fourth as Puget Sound pushed across six runs despite only getting four hits. They added four runs in the fifth innings.
*STANDINGS
American Division
1. COLUMBIA BASIN RIVERDOGS (2-0), 2. Mobile (Ala.) 1-0, 3. Onandaga (NY) 1-1, 4. Ottumwa (Iowa) 0-1, 5. San Gabriel Valley (Calif.) 0-2.
National Division
1. PORTLAND (Ore.) 2-0, 2. Noblesville (Ind.) 1-1, 3. Puget Sound Roxx (Wash.) 2-0, 4. Cape Cod (Mass.) 0-1, 4. Eagle Pass (Texas) 0-1,
*Top three teams in each division qualify for playoff round.