Dufur senior Gabe Petroff (14) heads to third following an overthrow at second base during playoff action against Reedsport at Dufur Park Wednesday, May 25.
Dufur senior Kaleb Pence (23) gets a tag on Reedsport senior John Train (6) during playoff action at Dufur Park Wednesday, May 25.
Dufur senior Brock Lafaver (15) takes on a Reedsport batter during playoff action at Dufur Park Wednesday, May 25.
Dufur senior Brock Lafaver (15) takes on a Reedsport batter during playoff action at Dufur Park Wednesday, May 25.
Dufur senior Gabe Petroff (14) heads to third following an overthrow at second base during playoff action against Reedsport at Dufur Park Wednesday, May 25.
Dufur senior Kaleb Pence (23) rounds second base and heads for third during playoff action against Reedsport at Dufur Park Wednesday, May 25.
Dufur second baseman junior Josh Taylor (9) fields a grounder during playoff action against Reedsport at Dufur Park Wednesday, May 25.
With the largest crowd of the season attending their final home game, the Dufur/South Wasco County High Rangers had an impressive performance in a 10-0 win over the No. 12 ranked Neah-Kah-Nie High Pirates (18-7) in the OSAA Class 2A/1A baseball state quarterfinals May 27 at Dufur City Park.
The win propelled the No. 4-ranked Rangers (24-2) into the semifinals for the first time since 2017. The Rangers faced the No. 1 ranked Umpqua Valley Christian Monarchs (24-4) Tuesday in Roseburg (result was after the printed edition deadline). Winner of Tuesday’s game advances to the June 3 state championship against the winner of No. 2-ranked Kennedy (25-3) and No. 3 Knappa (21-4). A Rangers’ semifinal win would send them to the finals for the first time in school history.
“We came out and played baseball right from the start, we got excited early, and we played a real solid game,” said Dufur Coach CS Little. “Isaac Anthony pitched pretty good. We kept the pitch count down, so he’ll be available for our next game. We’ve been trying to committee pitch because of the pitching rules. We used three guys in our last game (May 25) because we had a one-day turnaround and we kept everybody under 45. Now we have a three-day turnaround, so he (Anthony) could’ve went up to 85.”
OSAA rules require a pitcher to have one day rest after throwing 45 pitches, two days rest after throwing 60, and three days rest after 85. Throwing 86 to 110 pitches requires four days rest. Pitchers are not allowed to throw more than 110 pitches in a day.
Neah-Kah-Nie, from Rockaway Beach, came into the game with the momentum of a four-game win streak, including a 4-3 second-round win May 23 over No. 5-ranked Weston-McEwen (18-4) in Athena. “I’ve kind of followed Neah-Kah-Nie all year,” said Little. “They played St. Paul tough, they played Knappa tough and so it didn’t surprise me that they beat Weston-McEwen. I felt that they were on par with the rest of the good teams in the state. They have a lot of juniors (10) and they had a fine season. I felt that they had a quality team and I figured that they might be able to knock of McEwen and when they did, I wasn’t shocked.”
Anthony tossed a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts. The senior also hit a second-inning grand slam, which was his second this year, to help lift the Rangers in front, 6-0. Anthony’s 12 home runs ranks him atop 2A/1A baseball; he also 50 RBI.
“I always get excited in situations like that and I’m glad it worked out that way,” said Anthony. “I was actually really surprised about the lopsided score, though, because I expected a little more of a challenge. It’s exciting to be going to the semis, especially since we didn’t quite make it this far last year.”
The Rangers took a 2-0 first-inning advantage on an RBI-double by senior Kaleb Pence (2-for-3) and RBI single by senior Brock LaFaver. In the second inning, the Rangers loaded the bases when junior August Harvey hit a leadoff single, catcher Gabe Petroff was hit by Pirate pitcher Parker Hopkins and Pence drew a walk. Anthony then delivered his blast over the 330-foot center field fence.
“It’s kind of cool that we won and it’s pretty awesome to be in the semis now,” said Petroff. “I’m excited because we have all of our pitchers ready to go and with them going strong and with our hot bats, it should be a good game. If we just go down there to Roseburg and play our hearts out, then I think we can win and go to the championship game on Friday.”
Dufur’s momentum continued in the fourth, aided by a Pirate error and an RBI single by senior Conor Holloway that helped extend the lead to 9-0. The Rangers, who had nine hits, added a run in the fifth to win the contest early via the 10-run mercy rule.
“The seniors have played baseball together for a long time and they had lots of fun in their last home game,” said Little. “We’ll go on a long road trip to Southern Oregon and try to do the best we can there. It should be a heck of a game with UVC. Hopefully, we’ll have another trip to Volcanoes Stadium on Friday.”
The contest marked the final home game of their Dufur/South Wasco County High School baseball careers of seniors Carson Smith, Pence, Holloway, Anthony, LaFaver, and Petroff.
In a May 25, second-round 8-1 playoff win at home over the Reedsport Brave (14-9), the pitching trio of Anthony, Smith and LaFaver combined on a three-hitter and they totaled 15 strikeouts to help lead the Rangers to the victory.
No. 13-ranked Reedsport, of Special District 5, took a 1-0 first inning lead. After two scoreless innings, the Rangers rallied with a five-run fourth to go ahead, 5-1. The Rangers then added three runs in the sixth for the 8-1 final margin.
Anthony again led the Rangers’ offense, as he batted 3-for-4 with two singles, three RBI and a home run. LaFaver (3-for-4, three singles, two RBI), sophomore Olson Meanus (1-for-3, RBI) and Holloway (RBI) also drove in runs to help contribute to the Rangers’ 10-hit offense.
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