When he first set foot on the Western Oregon University baseball field, Kolbe Bales was unsure of what to expect. The Dufur High School graduate played some big games in the 2A/1A classification and picked up numerous awards, including a first-team all-state selection and Player of the Year honors.
With less than 48 hours to soak in a tough opening-round performance in an 8-5 win over Bandon, veteran leaders on the No. 1-seeded Dufur Rangers knew if they wanted to keep their season going, fundamentals and execution were keys to success against Umpqua Valley Christian.
No. 1-seeded Dufur learned a valuable lesson from Wednesday’s 2A/1A state opener against 16th-seeded Bandon – if you take anything for granted, it could come back to bite you.
With a chance to win their first district crown since 2008, Dufur baseball coach C.S. Little sent out his ace starter Kolbe Bales to get the Rangers over the mountaintop. Bales tossed six innings of three-hit ball with 13 strikeouts and no walks, as the No. 1-ranked Rangers defeated No. 7 Sherman by a 5-0 margin for the district crown in action Saturday at Bob White Field in Pendleton.
Coming off a two-game sweep against Sherman, the Rangers hit the field against 3A Riverside and pounded out 14 hits, received 12 walks and stole eight bases in a six-inning, 19-9 mercy-ruled win Monday at Dufur City Park.
In Saturday’s Blue Mountain Conference doubleheader against Sherman, the Rangers had 26 hits and outscored the Huskies 22-6 in a sweep at Dufur City Park.
While boasting the 2A classification’s fourth-best offense at 10 runs a game, the one forgotten highlight during the Dufur Rangers’ 13-game winning streak is its stout pitching performances.
Dufur pitcher Bailey Keever capped a two-game Blue Mountain Conference sweep over Heppner with a 71-pitch, five-inning no-hitter with a season-high 13 strikeouts in Dufur’s 10-0 mercy-ruled victory at Quinton Street Ballpark.
