Needing to win three of four games this past weekend, the Hustlers nearly swept a pair of league doubleheaders, but still won three games to set up a one-game playoff against Pendleton at 6 p.m. tonight at Bob Williams Field.
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Two years ago, Bailey Ortega was a varsity golfer. After Friday’s six-inning masterpiece against No. 13 Hermiston, the senior pitcher is cementing his name atop the Columbia River Conference all-league list. Ortega tossed six innings of two-hit ball with two strikeouts, as he outdueled Hermiston ace R.J. Robles in The Dalles’ 5-1 victory at Bob Williams Field in The Dalles.
With a final chance to finish ahead of Pendleton in the standings, The Dalles notched seven hits and received four walks, but stranded eight runners on base, including the bases loaded in the seventh inning of a 4-2 loss to the Bucks Tuesday at Robert L. White Field in Pendleton. Down by two runs, the Hawks had the bottom of the order facing Pendleton reliever Kai Quinn. Ortega led off with a single to right field, and one out later, Johnny Miller hit a single to left field to put two runners on base. After a flyout to right made it two outs in the inning, Colin Noonan reached on a walk to load the bases for Kellen Mathisen. Mathisen and Quinn battled for six pitches. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, the Buckaroo righty got the called third strike for the final out to end the threat. TD led 1-0 through one inning, but Pendleton tied it at 1-apiece in the second, and then used a two-run fourth to jump ahead, 3-1. TD added a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Dawson Hoffman to score Cash Mathewson. With Miller on third base and Hoffman at first, Noonan bounced into a double play to end the inning. Ortega had two hits in three at-bats, and Colton Walker went 1 for 2 with a double, a walk and an RBI. Noonan went 1 for 3 with a walk and a run, and Daniel Peters added a hit and a walk. Bate tossed five innings of seven-hit ball with two strikeouts and five walks. He allowed four runs, two were earned. TD (8-10 overall, 2-4 league) heads to No. 4 Hood River Valley (15-4, 5-1) for a doubleheader at 5 p.m. Friday. The Eagles lost 9-1 Tuesday to Hermiston.
With senior pitcher Bailey Ortega dialed in on the mound, all The Dalles Riverhawk offense needs to do is capitalize on a few scoring opportunities to come out on top. Ortega tossed a complete-game five-hitter with three strikeouts, and the TD offense broke open a 3-2 lead with two runs in the fifth inning and one more in the sixth to defeat 6A West Albany by a 6-3 margin Tuesday at Bob Williams Field in The Dalles.
Down 8-1 heading into the top of the seventh inning, The Dalles Riverhawks scored four runs and had a runner on first base with two outs, but Redmond reliever Austin Cable induced a game-ending flyout to right field to cap an 8-5 victory Friday in a non-league baseball contest played at Redmond High School.
Pitching against an offense that that scored five or more runs in five of its nine games, The Dalles senior Bailey Ortega needed to be on his top game. He was and then some. Ortega scattered three hits and struck out three, and was supported by an errorless defense that turned two double plays and added several sterling plays in an 8-1 victory over La Salle Prep Thursday at Bob Williams Field in The Dalles.
No. 8-ranked Summit and The Dalles played close to the vest through the first three innings, but the Storm broke things open with a two-run fourth inning and then added four runs in the sixth to secure a 10-3 win Tuesday in a baseball contest played in Bend.
TD baseball is using team unity to fuel ‘16 playoff surge
