The Hattenhauer Distributing Columbia Gorge Hustlers American Legion triple A team is off to a good start in its summer league baseball schedule after winning four of its first five games.
The Hustlers (4-1) won, 5-3, on June 12 over the Sherwood Lobos at Sherwood High School. The duo of The Dalles High 2023 graduates Riley Brock (nine strikeouts) and Braden Schwartz (seven strikeouts) helped lead the Hustlers to the win with their outstanding pitching performances. Schwartz led the offense with three hits.
Hunter Duckwall
Noah Noteboom photo
“Last year (37-4 record) we were in single A, but since we’re in triple A now, we’ll face much tougher opponents,” Brock said. “I think we’ll still have a successful season. I expect that we’ll qualify for the state playoffs again this year and I can’t wait to go play in that tournament (July 21-23 in Eugene) which should be a lot of fun.”
Hustlers vs. Hood River Valley on June 13.
Noah Noteboom photo
The Hustlers won a Gorge rivalry matchup, 18-3, over the Hood River Valley High Eagles summer squad (1-1) June 13 in their home opener in The Dalles. Playing their third game in three days, the Hustlers then faced a tough Glencoe High squad in Hillsboro, and they lost for the first time, 3-1, on June 14.
A much more experienced Hustler squad (eight college-age players), guided by Coach Chad Smith, capitalized on facing a much younger Hood River squad that has eight sophomores, four juniors and four seniors.
“The kids played well, and our young starting pitcher Sam Shaver threw really well on the mound for us,” said Smith. “Josh Beau is coming along, and he threw very well, too, as our relief pitcher. It was a good experience for a younger Hood River squad to come out and play against a team like ours with older kids.”
A young Eagles’ squad, guided by Coach Zach Kayser, jumped in front 2-0 in the first inning, highlighted by an RBI single from sophomore Bodie Stuben.
“We haven’t had a summer league team in quite a few years, so it’s absolutely great for the kids to have the opportunity to continue playing baseball now,” said Kayser. “It was definitely frustrating though and it’s just easy to play flat in a game like that, but it shows there’s some things that we need to work on. Our thoughts now moving forward are to get better and just try to play with a higher energy level. We knew that it would be a challenge playing a Hustler team with much older and more experienced players.”
The Hustlers responded after falling behind with an eight-run second inning to go on top 8-2. The Hustlers added six runs in the third, highlighted by an RBI sacrifice fly by Gabe Petroff, a 2022 Dufur High graduate. They scored four in the fourth to build an 18-2 margin and win the contest early after five innings via the Mercy Rule.
“It’s been fun playing in college, but it was a little disappointing that we didn’t qualify for the league playoffs,” said Petroff, a sophomore at Chemeketa Community College in Salem where he plays on the Storm baseball team. “Playing baseball in college is cool and it’s a lot different than playing at Dufur.”
Schwartz (2-for-4, three RBI) and Diego Gonzalez (2-for-4) led the Hustlers’ offense, which had 11 hits. Hustler pitchers Shaver (five strikeouts) and Beau, a Goldendale High School senior, combined to toss a four-hitter. Addison Postlewait, Hunter Duckwall and Stuben each had hits for the Eagles.
Hood River played its first home game Tuesday at Traner Field versus Centennial High’s summer league squad (result was after the printed edition deadline). The Eagles play their next contest on June 22 at 6 p.m. at home versus Wilsonville, followed by a 6 p.m. road matchup June 23 at La Salle High School in Milwaukie.
The Hustlers played a doubleheader Tuesday at home versus the Yakima Beetles (result was after the printed edition deadline). The Hustlers face Yakima again Wednesday on the road in a 2 p.m. contest, followed by a 5 p.m. home doubleheader June 24 against Glencoe.
The Hustlers’ single A squad (age 17U) lost, 9-3, at Sherwood in its June 14 season opener. They bounced back and won a road game, 4-3, over St. Helens in an eight-inning contest June 17. Will Booth (3-for-4), Cooper Klindt (1-for-4, two RBI), Cody Agidius (1-for-3, RBI) and Sam Shaver (1-for-3, RBI) led the Hustlers’ offense.
Shaver had 11 strikeouts and he allowed five hits in five and two-third innings pitched. Relievers Agidius, Booth and Trey Hodges also helped contribute to the Hustlers’ win with their solid performances on the mound.
The single A team split a Father’s Day doubleheader versus Mountainside in Beaverton, as they won the first game, 7-2, then lost the second game, 12-2. The single A team will play in a tournament June 22-25 at Walla Walla, Wash.
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