By Mike Weber
For Columbia Gorge News
THE DALLES — The Dalles High (TDHS) Riverhawks, trying to keep their hopes of 2026 OSAA Class 4A state playoff berth alive, had their postseason chances end May 11 with a 4-2 loss at Molalla.
The No. 7-ranked Tri-Valley Conference leading Indians scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to dash The Dalles’ playoff chances. The Indians (7-2 TVC, 16-7 overall) broke away from a 2-2 tie at the time.
For the No. 15-ranked Riverhawks (3-6 TVC, 13-11 overall), guided by fifth-year Coach Pat Clark, the fourth straight loss eliminated them from playoff contention. It marks the first time since 2022 that the Riverhawks didn’t advance to the playoffs.
“We’ve won a handful of league games and every game we’ve been pretty competitive in … we lost quite a few by close margins,” said Clark, whose squad has lost four games by four runs or less. “Obviously, losing two one-run games (2-1 loss May 4; 4-3 loss May 6) to Estacada was tough and losing by just two runs to Molalla was disappointing.”
The Riverhawks played well enough to win, as they outhit the Indians 5-3 and they had just one error on defense — while the Indians had three miscues. Sophomore pitcher Gunnar Bustos had an outstanding performance with eight strikeouts, two earned runs allowed and six walks. The Riverhawks were led offensively by Bustos (1-for-3, RBI), freshman Hunter Kelley (1-for-3, double, RBI), freshman Thatcher Dray (1-for-2, walk) and senior Evan Ortega (1-for-4).
“Gunnar is our top pitcher, and he settled in there and really helped keep us in the game, but we just couldn’t get our bats going offensively,” said Clark. “It didn’t go our way, but it was just another highly contested, tight league game, which we’ve seen a lot of this year. Even though we didn’t win, we felt pretty good about the game, especially since we played so well against a much more experienced Molalla team with eight seniors.”
Four days later, the Riverhawks regained their momentum with a 14-7 home win May 15 over the Madras High White Buffaloes (1-9 TVC, 7-14 overall), to snap their losing streak.
“We needed a win to give us something to feel good about,” said Clark. “Since our offense has struggled so much this year, it was really nice to score a lot of runs and it kind of helped us breathe a sigh of relief, and also have some fun, too. It was good to see the kids smiling and enjoying themselves again and just kind of remember that they should have fun playing baseball.”
The Riverhawks outhit the White Buffaloes 10-9 and they were led offensively by Evan Ortega (2-for-4, three RBI), freshman Joel Ortega (2-for-3, RBI), Dray (1-for-5, three RBI), senior Hunter Bustos (1-for-3, two RBI) and junior Sawyer Dray (1-for-3, two RBI).
“Hopefully, with this young group, we’ll get to the point where they’ll play like we did against Madras all the time,” said Clark.
The Riverhawks will play their season finale May 21 on Senior Night at 5:30 p.m. versus Molalla. Seniors Hunter Bustos and Evan Ortega will be honored for their contributions to the Riverhawks’ baseball program in a special pregame ceremony.
The Riverhawks are in fourth place in the five-team league standings.
“The Tri-Valley Conference is very strong this year,” said Clark. “We could end up being ranked higher than a few of the playoff teams. We had hoped to make the playoffs, but we’ll find a way to get back in next year. We’re just hoping that we can end the season on a positive note.”
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