THE DALLES — The Dalles baseball team had a busy week, March 23-27, playing four home non-league games in five days as part of the Riverhawk Baseball Invitational at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.
The Riverhawks (3-3) beat Sweet Home, 4-3, on March 23; lost to Phoenix, 7-3, on March 24; lost to Philomath, 12-2; on March 26 and beat Tillamook High School, 15-2, on March 27.
Against the Sweet Home Huskies (2-4), the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning, when The Dalles broke through with two runs, followed by another two runs in the sixth to take an insurmountable 4-0 lead.
Sophomore Gunner Bustos earned the win on the mound, pitching six dominant innings with eight strikeouts. At the plate, Bustos added a double. Freshman Thatcher Dray led the offense with two hits and an RBI. Sophomore Daylee Miller and freshman Hunter Kelley each added a double and an RBI to the winning effort.
The following day against the Phoenix Pirates (6-1), the visitors took an early lead with three runs in the second inning. The Dalles fought back to make it a one-run game by the end of the sixth inning (4-3), but Phoenix sealed the win with a three-run surge in the top of the seventh. The Dalles out-hit Phoenix, 8-7, but was hampered by two errors and stranded six runners on base.
Bustos drove in two of the Riverhawks’ three runs, while Dray and sophomore Sawyer Case both had two hits apiece. Senior Evan Ortega pitched six innings, striking out three, but took the loss after giving up four runs (only one of which was earned).
To finish up the tournament, the Riverhawks fell 12-2 to the Philomath Warriors (3-3) on March 26 and then turned around and handled Tillamook Cheesemakers (1-4) by 13 runs the next day.
Commented