White Salmon's Gorge Baseball builds for the future

The squad, guided by first-year summer league Coach Mike Muehlbauer, nearly got a breakthrough victory last week; on June 30 they lost, 8-6, to Hood River. On July 1 against the more experienced Columbia Gorge Hustlers (23-2), Gorge Baseball (0-5) built a 7-0 lead, but the Hustlers pulled out a 9-7 win at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.

“That was definitely a game that we probably should’ve won easily if we didn’t have one bad inning (fourth),” said Muehlbauer, who guided the Columbia High Bruins baseball during the spring in his first season as head coach. “I did my best to recruit the high school team to play some summer ball and get out here and get some experience and get more games under our belt. Getting more reps in hitting, pitching, and fielding and being around the game more is going to be a huge benefit for them.

“A lot of these guys missed a couple years of baseball for the most part because of COVID, so it’s been tough. We’re a young team obviously, but we’re getting better. I can see the improvement already between the high school season and where we’re at now. We’re more competitive in games. Even though we lost to the Hustlers, I was pretty happy with the outcome; I was pleased with our overall performance.”

Gorge Baseball got off to a great start in the top of the first inning, sending 10 batters to the plate to face Hustler pitcher Sam Shaver. Wyatt Stelma (1-for-2, single, two walks, run scored) helped ignite the rally when he drew a one-out lead off walk from Shaver. Stelma and William Shute both scored on a two-RBI single by Porter Haskell (1-for-3) for a 2-0 lead. Aided by two Hustler errors, Gorge Baseball, scored three more runs to build a 5-0 first-inning lead.

“We were up and then we started making errors later and then we kind of got down after they (Hustlers) started scoring,” said Stelma, a Columbia High incoming sophomore. “We’re a really young team (six sophomores, one freshman) though and we just need to get a little more used to coming back in games and get used to seeing good pitchers like they have. We’re having fun though and our pitchers are getting better. We’re starting to hit the ball well, too, and everyone is swinging their bats better.”

Shute, a 2022 Columbia High graduate, struck out two of three Hustler batters in the bottom half of the first to help his team stay on top with a five-run lead.

Stelma again helped Gorge Baseball get off to a good start as the lead off batter in the second, as he was hit by a pitch thrown by Cody Agidius. Gorge Baseball added two more runs to build its seven-run lead. Stelma and Bryson Sauter both singled in the third, but both were left stranded when the Hustlers executed a double play to end the scoring threat.

Following the scoreless third, the Hustlers came back with a four-run fourth, then added one more in the fifth. The Hustlers’ momentum continued in the sixth as they scored four runs to pull out the win.

“This is a lot more relaxing in summer league than the regular high school season was,” said Muehlbauer. “The weather is a lot nicer and it’s a lot more relaxed atmosphere for the players. I’m trying to get more players into the game, instead of just playing what we see as our top players in games the entire time. It’s been good to get the younger players into the games.”

Gorge Baseball plays its next home game July 19 against the La Center Cats at 6:30 p.m.