The overall team record doesn’t reflect it, but Hood River Valley’s baseball fortunes took a step forward — albeit a small one — last week when the Eagles competed in four games in five days over Spring Break.
HRV went 0-3-1 on the trip, falling to 2-7-1 overall with Northwest Oregon Conference play beginning next week. Coach Max Reitz said the trip to play in the Coach Bob Invitational was good from a team bonding standpoint, but added the Eagles have some work to do if they want to be competitive in league play.
“We had a good trip to Arizona despite the win-loss record,” Reitz said. “It was a great experience playing some very talented teams on some beautiful high school fields.
“The boys I think competed hard and it was a good team bonding experience.”
Hood River tied Crimson, Ariz., 12-12 (time limit) in its first game on March 25. Crimson scored four times in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Eagles lost their next contest 7-3 on March 26 to unbeaten Sandy High — the OSAA’s fourth-ranked Class 6A team this season.
Two lopsided losses followed: 13-3 to Doherty, Colo., on March 27; and 10-0 to Arbor View, Nev., on March 29. HRV led Doherty after a half inning but allowed three runs in the bottom half and never led again. Doherty had 16 hits. Hood River managed just a single hit against Arbor View, which stole seven bases.
“We need to improve significantly in all areas of the game if we want to be competitive in our leagues,” Reitz said. “[We] will continue to work on that as we move forward.”
Hood River was scheduled to play visiting 6A Gresham High on April 2. It’s the final non-league game for HRV with NWOC play starting April 9 at home against fourth-ranked Centennial (4-2). Hood River will play three-game series against Centennial, Putnam and Canby, and then two-game slates against La Salle Prep, Wilsonville, Milwaukie, and Hillsboro.
The top four teams in the nine-team NWOC automatically qualify for the 5A state playoffs; two other 5A teams will earn at-large berths based on their OSAA rankings.
Hood River has qualified for state every year since 2014, excluding the two COVID-19-affected seasons in 2020 and 2021.
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