River Dogs beat Tucson 13-5

EPHRATA — Sometimes no amount of planning beats dumb luck. The defending champion Columbia Basin River Dogs kept their hopes of repeat alive with a rather strange turn of events Wednesday night at the Senior Babe Ruth World Series at Johnson-OBrien Stadium.

They kicked it around early with three errors in the first two innings and fell behind 5-0 to Tucson in the top of the second. But they took a page out of Al Davis’ songbook, “Just win baby,” scoring four runs in the bottom half of the second on three Arizona errors, making it a one-run game without a single hit.

By the time the River Dogs (3-1) did start hitting, it turned into a landslide 13-5 victory. With the win, Columbia Basin secured the top seed in the American Division. The Alabama Rawdogs (4-0) are the only unbeaten team remaining and go into the bracket as the No. 1 seed in the National Division.

“Going in as the No. 1 seed means we get the day off and I get to throw Hunter Boyd or Kaeden Murphy on Friday night and the other one in the championship game. I feel good about that,” River Dogs manager Randy Boruff said. “Both played for us last year and were a part of the national championship team. We just need to start getting better clutch hitting.”

By the time Justin DeHoog scored the go-ahead run in the second inning it was all ahead full for Columbia Basin. The River Dogs scored four in the third and five more in the fourth, finishing with 13 runs on nine hits. Not bad for a team that didn’t even get its first hit until the third inning. Nick Lopez of Quincy finished with three RBI.

“The offense is picking up, but it’s not as good as we have been. The best is still to come,” said DeHoog, who is playing in his fourth Senior Babe Ruth World Series. “Getting to the bracket means a lot and says all the hard work is paying off. We still haven’t reached our potential and it’s only going to get better from here.”

From here on out, it’s lose or go home. The top two teams have lost a combined one game. The Alabama Rawdogs (4-0) and River Dogs (3-1) have the night off on Thursday. Tucson (2-2) is the No. 3 seed in the American Division and faces Pine Forge, Pa. (2-2) in the elimination game at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

American No. 2 seed Union County, N.C. (3-1) plays National No. 3 Cape Cod, Mass. (2-2) in the 7 p.m. game to determine Friday night’s semifinalists.

“I think there’s nobody in the tournament that we’re not capable of beating,” Boruff said. “We left 32 guys on base in the first three games and that’s not good. It means we’re getting on, we’re just not getting clutch hits.”

The host team put itself in a position to win another championship. But there’s a bit of ball to be played between now and Saturday.