Rex Putnam ends Hood River season in 5A playoffs

There were essentially none of those May 25, a beautiful spring day at Hood River Valley’s Traner Field — at least none that affected the outcome. Just one team pitching, hitting, and fielding better than the other on that given day. That pretty much sums up Rex Putnam’s 8-2 road playoff win over host HRV in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

The fastball-hitting, 10th-ranked Kingsmen (20-8 overall) ended the season for seventh-ranked HRV (19-7) behind an eight-hit attack and sophomore pitcher Jackson Fera’s right arm. Rex Putnam did so after spotting the Eagles an early lead, something that HRV fans were accustomed to seeing this season.

“That’s something that we do a lot, almost every game, and even though it was on an error, we punch first a lot,” HRV’s Mason Spellecy said of the quick start. “Good for Putnam, they responded, and they punched back. We were up 2-oh and it got away from us.”

HRV’s quick lead didn’t bother the patient Northwest Oregon Conference runners-up, who delivered a haymaker in the top of the fourth inning. That’s when the young Kingsmen (two seniors on varsity) scored five times on six hits against HRV starter Jake von Lubken. The scoring burst erased the Eagles’ 2-0 lead it had held since the bottom of the first. All told, Rex Putnam sent nine batters to the plate in the inning.

“I think we just got beat by a team that was better than us today,” HRV Coach Max Reitz said. “They pitched better and hit better and played good defense. And that’s the right combination. So, we just tip our hat to them.”

The Kingsmen added two more runs in the fifth, chasing von Lubken from the game. A single and walk set the table for Leo Renzema, who knocked in two runs with a base hit to left field. Rex Putnam might have scored more had it not been for Spellecy’s quick reflexes. The senior righthander, who came on in relief of von Lubken, scrapped the mound dirt to snag Elliot Carrillo’s liner and threw to first base in the same motion to double up Renzema and end the threat.

“They were putting the bat on the ball, from top to bottom, played good defense,” Spellecy said of the Kingsmen. “Jackson (Fera) … he worked out of some struggles, which we just couldn’t capitalize on.”

Rex Putnam added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, when sophomore Shannon Pando‘s base hit knocked in freshman Ian Pollard from third base. Pando was 3-for-3 to lead the Kingsmen offensively.

“Von Lubken and Spellecy, I knew that they were both fastball guys and we’ve been hitting velo (in practice) for the last three or four days,” Rex Putnam Coach Chad McGowan said of his team’s preparation to face the Eagles.

Hood River, playing without senior starter Hunter Hough (who broke his hand in practice), was limited to the two first-inning runs and an occasional baserunner. The early runs were scored by catcher Joe Reitz, who had earned the first of his three walks, and von Lubken. An out after Reitz walked, von Lubken was hit by a pitch bringing Ryles Buckley to the plate. He hit a dribbler in front of the batter’s box, which Fera fielded but threw low to first base. Buckley appeared to beat the throw, but the ball squirted under Pando’s glove and into the outfield. The ball hopped past incoming right fielder Tucker Buchanan, allowing Reitz and von Lubken to score.

The Eagles managed three other hits: Jordan Webber had a single in the second inning, teammate Kyle Smiley added an infield single in the fourth; and Trenton Hughes laced a leadoff double to the fence in right center in the seventh. Hughes’ two-bagger greeted Rex Putnam reliever Rezema, who recovered nicely to set down the next three HRV hitters in order and advance the Kingsmen to the second round.

Despite the loss, Reitz had plenty of praise for his IMC champion team, led by its 12 seniors.

“They’ve been giving us great effort from the get-go — some of them since January in preseason,” the coach said. “They should hold their heads high; they accomplished a lot. They had a good record; they won the IMC. I think once the sting of the end of the season wears off, they’re going to feel really good about it.”