HOOD RIVER — Hood River Valley’s (HRV’s) juggernaut of a Northwest Oregon Conference baseball schedule is taxing the Eagles, who have lost four straight games after a 6-0 start.
HRV lost a two-game series to Canby last week, in addition to a single game against La Salle Prep. There’s no rest for the weary either, as on the docket this week is top-ranked and unbeaten Wilsonville (away on May 13 and home on the 14th). Then on May 16, HRV (11-9 overall, 6-4 league) is scheduled to begin its two-game series vs. Hillsboro.
Two weeks ago, Hood River was part of a four-way tie with La Salle, Wilsonville and Canby, but heading into this week, Coach Max Reitz’s team is in fourth place — two games in the loss column ahead of fifth-place Hillsboro (12-9, 6-6). The series against the Spartans may very well decide the NWOC’s No. 4 automatic berth into the 2025 Class 5A state playoffs.
On the other hand, the toughness of HRV’s schedule should also work in the team’s favor, as Hood River entered the week ranked No. 11 in state (Wilsonville, despite its unblemished record, is No. 3, Canby is No. 4 and La Salle Prep No. 5). Two additional 5A teams will earn at-large berths into the postseason. Wilsonville (21-0), Canby (17-3) and La Salle Prep (17-4) started this week with 10-0 league records.
After the Hillsboro series, Hood River is scheduled to play a two-game set — May 21 and 23 — against Centennial (5-7, 3-9 league).
On May 6, Hood River led La Salle 4-2 through four innings, but the Falcons used a six-run fifth to break the game open and won, 9-5. Falcons’ winning pitcher Torsten Hersom delivered a game-turning home run to pace his team’s offense, as well.
“We let this one get away, and quite honestly, I left Stuben in too long and that’s on me,” Reitz said of starter Bodie Stuben. “Offensively, we certainly competed better, and I was proud of the boys for that.”
Stuben appeared on cruise control after La Salle touched him for two runs in the opening inning — until the fifth. Davin Snyder, Kingston McAdam and Tyson Harjo each had two hits for HRV — both of Harjo’s were doubles and he knocked in three runs.
The Canby series opener on May 7 saw the visitors score three runs in each of the first two innings enroute to a 6-1 win. Six-foot-six sophomore Jack Brauckmiller threw a five-hit complete game for Canby keeping the Eagles in check except for a single run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Addison Postlewait had two hits for HRV
“Their guy was tough on the mound and was able to just beat us in the strike zone,” Reitz said. “Hockett pitched really well and just had the one mistake that turned into a home run.”
HRV’s Maverick Hockett struck out five and scattered six hits over four innings, but one was a three-run homer to Colby Herren.
Hood River managed four hits in the second game, a 4-1 Cougar win. The hits came from Snyder, Stuben, Harjo, and Davis Parr. Two of Canby’s four runs were unearned.
“Addy was awesome and kept us in the game,” Reitz said of Postlewait. “I thought we competed better in this game than game one. It was a similar story in that we played them even for most of the game but had one bad inning.”
Canby scored three times in the bottom of the third against Postlewait, who went six innings with five strikeouts and four walks.
Reitz said: “That’s kind of been the theme these last four games. Good teams take advantage of your mistakes and that’s exactly what has happened.”
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