The proverbial monkey is off their back.
The Dalles High Riverhawks ended an eight-year, 17-game baseball losing streak to the Hood River Valley Eagles with a 4-1, win March 22.
The No. 7 ranked Class 4A Riverhawks (3-2), guided by second-year Coach Pat Clark, used the no-hit pitching of starter Cooper Kindt (four strikeouts, walk) and junior reliever Will Booth to get the breakthrough victory.
“It’s been a crazy losing streak; we were all aware of it and it was something that we were focusing on all week,” said Booth, who had 10 strikeouts in five innings pitched. “Cooper started off by helping us get a no-hitter and then I just pretty much helped him carry it on throughout the whole game. We just did enough offensively in getting guys on base and them getting them around to score runs, which is all we needed to do.”
Aided by a walk and a Riverhawk error, the Eagles got on the scoreboard first when Grady Williams scored on a passed ball in the top of the first inning. The Riverhawks took the lead for good in the second inning, highlighted by a two-RBI single by junior Cody Agidius (2-for-3, three RBI), driving home senior Cooper Cummings and Booth (1-for-3, RBI). The Riverhawks extended their lead with a two-run fifth inning, highlighted by an RBI double by Agidius.
Agidius said: “I knew that we were going to beat them, because we have a very good team. Our mindset was to just go out there and get on base and that’s exactly what we did. This is such a huge highlight for us, and we love beating Hood River. I mean it’s the first time in eight years, so what could you not like about that.”
“We have coaches on our staff who have been through the streak, and this is just a huge win for us,” Clark said. “I have to give credit to pitching coach Dean Dollarhide, who has worked absolute wonders with our pitching staff. I’m just blessed to have great assistant coaches.
“I also have a lot of respect for Hood River and Max Reitz [HRV coach] and I have a great relationship and I have a lot of respect for him and his program. We finally showed that we’re not the little brother anymore.”
The Riverhawks had five hits, including one each from junior Avery Schwartz and senior Nolan Donivan.
It was Hood River’s first loss in the rivalry series with The Dalles since May 13, 2016 (a 6-3 loss in The Dalles).
“I’m surprised that we didn’t have any hits, but we just didn’t have a solid offensive approach against a good The Dalles team,” said Reitz, in his third season as head coach.
“All streaks always come to an end at some point and so that’s always going to be the case. I think for the sake of the rivalry between Hood River and The Dalles, it’s always better if it’s competitive every time we play.”
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