Update: The Eagles lost their Friday game against Dallas, 5-3. The full story will be in the June 1 issue of the Hood River News.
On Wednesday afternoon, beneath a brew of ash-colored clouds and the looming threat of rain, the Hood River Valley Softball team won its first round playoff game 8-0 at home over St. Helens to advance to the quarterfinals of the state tournament.
The Eagles came into the game as the No. 2 seeded team in the state for 5A, after an impressive season that saw them amass a 20-7 record. St. Helens was ranked 15th, and while the score would seem to disqualify them as legitimate competition, the Lions threatened constantly on offense.
In the top of the first inning, St. Helens hitters swung away at senior Lauren Decker’s pitches, loading the bases with two outs.
The Eagles were fortunate, a subtle theme that would remain throughout the game, as a groundball killed the Lions’ threat to score first. In their first at bats, Hood River also swung away — only they found success. Senior Haylee Baker laid down a bunt to start things off, tearing down the first base path with speed that made any play attempt irrelevant. She would steal second base on the first pitch to Decker, who was up next. Decker was called out on a bunt for being out of the batter’s box, but junior Makenzie Chambers came up and hit a line-drive homerun to centerfield to put the Eagles up by two.
The inning saw several more hits but no runs from HRV, but the message was clear: The Eagles were ready to play.
“We were attacking the ball and we played some solid defense,” said coach Eric Keller. “Have all that put together was a sign that we’re where we need to be.”
That “solid defense” was the key to Hood River’s shutout victory, highlighted by a couple key plays that surged momentum through the Eagles and quelled any rally being drummed by the Lions. In the top of the third, Chambers, playing catcher, caught a pitch from Decker and fired a bullet down to second base where sophomore Morgan Baker applied a quick tag to pick off a St. Helens runner caught wandering too far off the bag.
Decker struck out the batter on the next pitch, and in two pitches the Lions went from a runner on second with no outs to no runners on and two outs. It was that kind of game for the Eagles’ defense — quick, smart plays that snuffed any significant scoring efforts and kept the innings quiet.
“I told them we got to play our game,” said Keller. “We’ve been talking about staying loose, being confident and our keys to success. The way we approached this game was successful.”
The offense was led by Haylee Baker, Chambers, junior Aunika Yasui and sophomore Molly Routson, with the four of them amassing 11 hits and seven RBIs. Yasui and Routson came in clutch with big hits, like in the bottom of the fourth inning where the former smacked a double to left field and the latter lined a triple to right. Every Eagle contributed to the offense, whether at the plate or on the base paths, and at the heart of the offense this game was Haylee Baker who went three-for-four, personally scored three times and stole three bases.
“One thing my dad told me was ‘If I lead, they follow’ so as long as I get on, I feel my team has my back and they’re going to get runs across the plate,” said Baker.
Follow they did; the Eagles routed St. Helens, tallying 15 total hits amongst seven of their nine players. Decker earned the shutout win, allowing seven hits and one walk while striking out three. Her defense was solid behind her, and the runs gave her security, as she explained.
“It’s super helpful, being ahead,” said Decker. “There’s definitely a difference between pitching and pitching with a lead. When I’m pitching with a lead I’m able to loosen up a bit and throw knowing I have a little bit of wiggle room.”
Hood River played Dallas High School at home on Friday, (the results of which will be updated online at hoodrivernews.com). Dallas is the No. 7 rank team and defeated their first round opponent, No. 10 rank Putnam, 1-0. If the Eagles won on Friday they will play the winner of No. 6 rank Crater and No. 3 rank Hillsboro on May 28, also at home.
Commented