Mason Spellecy and Jakob Von Lubken share a fist bump after Spellecy scored a run during a scrimmage at Traner Field on the campus of HRVHS on Mar. 10.
Hood River catcher Joe Reitz hits the ball during an intrasquad scrimmage on Mar. 10 at Traner Field n the campus of HRVHS. In November, Reitz signed to play at Colorado School of the Mines in Golden, Colo.
Mason Spellecy and Jakob Von Lubken share a fist bump after Spellecy scored a run during a scrimmage at Traner Field on the campus of HRVHS on Mar. 10.
Noah Noteboom photo
With two thirds of the league’s deepest pitching staff returning, a catcher who has signed to play in college and a huge turnout of players — including 12 seniors — the Hood River Valley baseball program is arguably in need of only one thing: Good weather.
Everything else seems to be in place for the Eagles.
“We expect to compete for the IMC crown and make the state playoffs,” first year Coach Max Reitz said. “We have 38 athletes out and while I wasn’t the head coach last year, that is up from last year for sure.
“I think coming out of the worst phases of the pandemic, kids are looking to get back involved with sports and excited to participate.”
Twelve seniors sticking out the pandemic the past two seasons speaks volumes. “A very cool accomplishment for those student athletes,” Reitz said. “That is, to have all 12 still playing baseball as seniors despite the disruption of the pandemic, I’m guessing we might be the only program in the state that can boast that senior turnout.”
Hood River catcher Joe Reitz hits the ball during an intrasquad scrimmage on Mar. 10 at Traner Field n the campus of HRVHS. In November, Reitz signed to play at Colorado School of the Mines in Golden, Colo.
Noah Noteboom photo
The Eagles have four main returning players: Mason Spellecy, Joe Reitz, Trenton Hughes, and Jake Von Lubken. The latter player is a junior; the other three are seniors.
Senior Mason Spellecy rounds third base during a scrimmage on Mar. 10 at Traner Field on the campus of HRVHS.
Noah Noteboom photo
Spellecy was last season’s co-Intermountain Conference player of the year. He starts at shortstop when he’s not on the mound. Spellecy helped HRV (14-3 overall) finish in second place in the IMC in 2021, followed by a runner-up spot in the season-ending district tournament to Pendleton. Pendleton junior Payton Lambert shared player of the year honors with Spellecy, who threw back-to-back no hitters last year in conference play.
Reitz was a first-team all-league pick at catcher. The switch-hitting, honor-roll student has signed to play next season at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo. Hughes plies his athletic ability in center field for the Eagles. He was the player of the year this past football season. Von Lubken was a first-team all-league selection at pitcher and second team as an outfielder a season ago.
HRV senior Hunter Hough was a first team IMC pick in 2021 as a utility player.
“We have 5-of-5 returning starters in the field and three returning starters on the mound,” Coach Reitz said. “We have a group of new players that could and will be asked to contribute.
“I think with our experience and returning talent, we should make a strong showing in our conference.”
The coach offered this assessment of the IMC: “Pendleton is always the team to beat and have earned that reputation over the years. Redmond had a young but talented team last year and I expect they will be very good this year. All conference contests are challenging, just due to the familiarity and the three-game format.”
The Eagles open the season against two Class 6A foes: Gresham is scheduled to come to town for a 3:30 p.m. contest March 15; and Bend’s Summit High is due in the Gorge at the same time Friday.
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