At right, The Dalles sophomore Henry Begay (15) makes a throw to first base for the out as Pendleton base runner junior Payton Lambert (3) heads home from third base to score.
At right, The Dalles sophomore Henry Begay (15) makes a throw to first base for the out as Pendleton base runner junior Payton Lambert (3) heads home from third base to score.
Above, The Dalles catcher, junior Nathan Hedges, makes a clean catch on a throw from first but it was too late to make the tag and keep Pendleton base runner junior Payton Lambert (3) from scoring in the first game of a double header April 15 at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.
Above, The Dalles catcher, junior Nathan Hedges, makes a clean catch on a throw from first but it was too late to make the tag and keep Pendleton base runner junior Payton Lambert (3) from scoring in the first game of a double header April 15 at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.
The Dalles sophomore pitcher Henry Begay (15) throws a pitch during a double header against Pendleton April 15 in The Dalles.
The Dalles sophomore pitcher Henry Begay (15) throws a pitch during a double header against Pendleton April 15 in The Dalles.
At right, The Dalles sophomore Henry Begay (15) makes a throw to first base for the out as Pendleton base runner junior Payton Lambert (3) heads home from third base to score.
Mark B. Gibson photo
At right, The Dalles sophomore Henry Begay (15) makes a throw to first base for the out as Pendleton base runner junior Payton Lambert (3) heads home from third base to score.
Mark B. Gibson photo
Above, The Dalles catcher, junior Nathan Hedges, makes a clean catch on a throw from first but it was too late to make the tag and keep Pendleton base runner junior Payton Lambert (3) from scoring in the first game of a double header April 15 at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.
Mark B. Gibson photo
Above, The Dalles catcher, junior Nathan Hedges, makes a clean catch on a throw from first but it was too late to make the tag and keep Pendleton base runner junior Payton Lambert (3) from scoring in the first game of a double header April 15 at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.
Mark B. Gibson photo
The Dalles catcher, junior Nathan Hedges, checks the Pendleton base runners before returning a pitch to the pitcher.
Mark B. Gibson photo
The Dalles junior infielder Braden Schwartz fields a hit during an April 15 double header against Pendleton.
Mark B. Gibson photo
The Dalles junior Nathan Hedges prepares to enter the batter's box in an April 15 double header against Pendleton.
The Dalles freshman outfielder Finley Corbin fields a ground ball during an April 15 double header against Pendleton.
The Dalles High Riverhawks were on the verge of getting a huge win in the opening contest of their Intermountain Conference Class 5A baseball schedule April 15 versus visiting Pendleton High.
The Hawks had the momentum, a 7-5 lead, after five innings and a victory seemed within their grasp. However, the No. 11-ranked Buckaroos (2-0 IMC, 6-5 overall) came back with a three-run sixth and added another run in the seventh to pull out a 9-7 win in the first game of a doubleheader last Friday at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.
The Hawks, guided by Coach Steve Sugg, again had a good chance to win against Pendleton in the second game with the score deadlocked 2-2 after two innings. Led by junior pitcher Lucas Bensching (11 strikeouts), who tossed a three-hitter, the Buckaroos responded to the challenge though and they outscored the Hawks 4-0 over the next five innings to pull out a 6-2 win.
“They (Buckaroos) are one of the best teams in our league and it’s going to be either them or Hood River that will win the league title,” said Sugg. “We were right with them and I thought that we should’ve had the first game, especially when we were ahead 7-5 in the top of the sixth. We kind of let that one slip away and that was disappointing. We just didn’t execute well in the last two innings. The kids competed well though and that’s a good thing and I like to see that.”
In Game 1, Pendleton jumped in front 3-0 in the top of the first inning, but the Hawks responded with a four-run rally in the bottom half of the inning to take a 4-3 lead. After both teams added a run in the second, the Hawks outscored the Bucks 2-1 in the third to build a 7-5 advantage. The more experienced Buckaroos (10 juniors, four seniors) rallied with a three-run sixth to get the lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Dalles junior Riley Brock (1-for-2, single, 2 RBI), sophomore Nolan Donivan (3-for-3, three singles, RBI) and junior Nathan Hedges (1-for-2, single, RBI) helped lead the Hawks’ seven-hit offense - while Pendleton had nine hits.
Hawk pitchers Brock, Donivan and junior Henry Begay combined for nine hits and seven walks. Brock allowed five hits and he struck out three in three innings; Begay pitched one and a third innings and he allowed three hits, four runs and a walk; Donivan pitched two and two-third innings and he allowed one hit, a run and walked two.
“It’s definitely not the way we wanted to start out our league schedule,” said Begay, a second baseman/pitcher who helped contribute to a Hawks’ defensive double play in Game 2. “It’s still early in the season and we just have to put this behind us, because there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s been kind of a rough start so far this season and our record isn’t exactly what we were hoping it would be. We just need to continue to improve in every aspect of our game. Our pitchers have to throw more strikes in every game if we want to win. We have to put everything together offensively and defensively in order to win. They (Buckaroos) are a great team; they’re more experienced than us and we’re a pretty young team, but we competed well against them.”
Pendleton jumped in front with a 2-0 first-inning lead in Game 2. The Hawks fought back in the second, highlighted by a two-RBI double to centerfield by junior Manatu Crichton-Tunai (1-for-3), to knot the score 2-2.
“I was hoping that we would pull something together at that point; I felt really good, we were competing well, and it was tied,” said Crichton-Tunai, a designated hitter. “I thought that we would continue our momentum and have a chance to win. I haven’t had a lot of varsity playing time this year and it was probably just my third or fourth time of having an at-bat in a game. We just needed to compete more, but we played two good games and we stayed in it. It’s fun to come up to the varsity team … I’ll just keep competing hard at practice and during the games and hopefully I’ll continue playing on the varsity team.”
The younger (one senior, six juniors) less-experienced Hawks were unable to produce much offense against Bensching. The Buckaroos scored one run in the third, fourth and fifth frames and added another in the seventh to extend their lead.
“We made some mistakes in the second game and we didn’t hit the ball as well as we have been,” said Sugg. “We also had some missed opportunities. In these games, you have to take advantage of your scoring opportunities. Manatu is kind of an inexperienced player who has been playing on both the JV and varsity squads. He had a shot today to show what he could do, and he had a big hit that tied the game up.”
The Hawks were scheduled to play the Buckaroos in Pendleton on Tuesday (result was after the printed edition deadline). The Dalles (0-2 IMC, 2-9 overall) plays its next contest Friday in a 3 p.m. doubleheader versus the No. 21 ranked Ridgeview High Ravens (0-2 IMC, 7-4 overall) in Redmond.
Commented