The Hood River Valley High Eagles bounced back from a tough loss with a doubleheader sweep at home, 9-4 and 16-1, over the Tri-City Badgers in summer league baseball July 7 at Traner Field.
Following a 13-8 home loss to the Columbia Gorge Hustlers Single A squad on July 3, the Eagles responded. Guided by first-year head coach Zach Kayser, the Eagles were seeking to win a third straight when they met the Hustlers again in a 6 p.m. Gorge rivalry matchup Tuesday in The Dalles (result was after the printed edition deadline).
“It was a great day for us for sure in getting a sweep over Tri City,” said Kayser. “Once you get behind, like they (Badgers) did in Game 2, it’s easy to lose focus and it’s tough to come back and keep playing hard when the game is out of reach. That’s something that we’re still trying to learn, too. We’ve dropped two games against the Hustlers, so we’re hoping to at least play well and have a close game.”
In the July 3 game versus the Hustlers, the Eagles fell behind 11-0 in the sixth inning. The Eagles outscored the Hustlers, 8-2, to make it a much closer outcome and avoid a shutout.
In last Friday’s first contest, Tri City capitalized on five Hood River walks in the first inning and scored two runs to get an early 2-0 lead. Led by senior Grady Williams and sophomore Tony Aranda, who combined on the mound to pitch five scoreless innings, HRV outscored Tri City 9-2 over the next six innings to come back and get the win.
“It’s fun to just come out with my friends and play summer league baseball and it doesn’t get much better than that,” said Williams, who had a total of six RBI in the sweep. “I had a lot of help from my teammates, who were getting on base all the time. I’m having a lot of fun, and I love baseball and I love being out here.”
The Eagles had a big fifth inning, highlighted by a three-RBI double by Williams. The Eagles outhit the Badgers 11-4 and had key offensive contributions from sophomore Tristin Baker (two hits), sophomore Ashton Belcher (RBI, two steals) and senior Hunter Duckwall (two hits).
In Game 2, HRV took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, highlighted by RBI singles by Williams (2-for-4, three RBI) and sophomore Bodie Stuben (3-for-4). Following a scoreless second, HRV added a run in the third, to extend the lead to 4-0.
The shorthanded Badgers (2-19) played the doubleheader with nine players.
Hood River took control of the contest in the bottom half of the fourth inning with a 12-run offensive explosion. The Eagles sent 14 batters to the plate, pounded eight hits, capitalized on three walks, and scored a run on wild pitch. Duckwall (2-for-3), Aranda (1-for-3, RBI), sophomore Ole Barrs (1-for-3, RBI) and junior Addison Postlewait (4-for-4, two RBI, double, three singles) helped lead the Eagle offense, which produced a season high 16 hits. The 16 runs scored was a season high total, as well.
“It feels pretty good to get a sweep, especially at home,” said Postlewait.
Postlewait tossed a four hitter with seven strikeouts in the four and a half inning contest that was shortened via the 10-run Mercy Rule.
“Addie just keeps pitching well; he’s doing exactly what we need him to do by just throwing strikes at the bottom of the strike zone,” said Kayser. “His changeup was really good today and he made a lot of batters miss on their swings, so it’s just a good way for him to keep hitters off balance with the good off-speed pitches he throws for strikes.”
Hood River plays its next game Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Centennial High School in Gresham followed by a 3 p.m. contest Friday at Canby.
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