Thurston tops HRV, 4-3, in 5A baseball playoffs

Thurston is one of the few teams in the 5A ranks that boasts a lineup younger than HRV’s; Coach Dennis Minium hands over a lineup card pregame with three sophomores and a freshman in his starting nine. Eagle Coach Max Reitz counters with two sophomores and a freshman.

Youth aside, the on-field product was everything one might expect in the state playoffs. “From the baseball fans’ point of view, it was an exciting game,” Reitz said. “It was close, there was some back-and-forth that brings drama. And, certainly, it was competitive to the last pitch.”

Hood River outhit Thurston, 9-7, and threatened throughout the contest, but the Colts had an answer for every Eagle spurt. Thurston touched HRV ace Jake Von Lubken for two runs in the bottom of the first, but the Eagles tied the game with single runs in the second and third. Thurston scored its winning run in the fourth on Elliott’s two-RBI single to center.

“I’m just extremely proud of our guys — underdogs — going on the road, competing the way we did,” Reitz said. “Thurston is everything I thought they were going to be, which is young, prone to mistakes, but incredibly talented baseball players. And they’ve got ‘em all around the diamond.

“We hit a bunch of balls really hard right at some people.”

Hood River knocked Thurston’s Saunders to the ground twice in the game with line drives up the middle. One of those liners by Jordan McDoal (with the bases loaded and one out) ended up in the glove of Saunders, as he was looking around for the ball before realizing it was in his mitt. If not, the ball likely would have ended up in center field and HRV would have scored at least one run and, just as important, been in the same situation the next at-bat.

Von Lubken also roped a drive up the middle which Saunders gloved near his head and threw the HRV pitcher out at first. That play also arguably saved a run, as Jordan Webber homered on the next at bat to pull the Eagles within a run (vs. tying the game).

“We were really close; we had some breaks not go our way,” Reitz said. On the other hand, Saunders hit a ball off the top of the left-center field wall that stayed in the yard by inches.

Von Lubken was his usual stellar self on the mound. “Jake was awesome,” Reitz said. “It was quintessential Jake in terms of how he competes and keeping us in the game. You’re not guaranteed to win your last start, but he was everything he has been for us the last two years — against a tough team.”

Saunders also was on his A game, striking out 10. “We were not sure how poised he might be, but it turns out he’s got a lot of poise,” Reitz said. “I was impressed not only with his talent … (but how) he handled himself with a lot of poise for a first-round playoff game.

“I think we had some chances to get him rattled. If we could have pushed a run across in the first inning … that was just a big, missed opportunity.”

Offensively, Webber, Ethan Rivera, and Tristin Baker each had two hits for Hood River. Grady Williams, Hunter Duckwall and McDoal added singles for the Eagles.

With a day or so to reflect on the spring gone by, Reitz said, “We came into the season not knowing what we were going to have, (with) so many new faces in key positions on the team. These kids were a pleasure to be around. … Credit to them (as most) made the leap from JV baseball to varsity baseball and were extremely successful. For that group to finish fourth in a difficult conference … they deserve credit for that.”

Five Northwest Oregon Conference teams qualified for the state playoffs, and La Salle Prep, the No. 5-seeded team, eliminated top-ranked Summit in the first round — attesting to the NWOC’s strength.

“The team is always a reflection of the seniors,” Reitz said. “We have two great seniors on the team — one who got a lot of attention because of his excellent play on the field in Jake, and another (Joel Bronson) who got a lot less attention because his role was smaller and he’s just a quieter personality, but they both did everything that we asked for in leaders.

“I think we’re on solid ground. I think we have better days ahead … You can turn the page and keep moving forward, just like we tell the kids, ‘Make a bad swing, turn the page, next pitch’.”