Three losses dampen Riverhawk baseball playoff plans

THE DALLES — After winning two-of-three OSAA Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference baseball games, The Dalles High Riverhawks were hoping their momentum would continue last week. It turned out to be just the opposite scenario, though, as the Riverhawks lost three straight games, which certainly hurts their chances of reaching the state playoffs this year.

The No. 18-ranked Riverhawks (2-5 TVC, 12-10 overall), guided by fifth-year Coach Pat Clark, lost a close road game 2-1 to the No. 15-ranked Estacada High Rangers (5-2 TVC, 12-9 overall) on May 4.

“It was a great pitching match-up, without much offense, but just great performances from our pitchers Chase Petereson and Evan Ortega, who both threw very well,” said Clark. “It was simply a good game that we just came out on the wrong end of.”

The Riverhawks took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning before the Rangers knotted it 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth. The Rangers scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh on a walk-off home run with two outs.

The Riverhawks were outhit, 4-1, which marked a season-low for hits. (Ortega had the only hit.)

Two days later in a home rematch versus the Rangers, the Riverhawk again played well but lost, 4-3. The Riverhawks trailed the entire game after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning. The Dalles scored once in the fourth, trimming the deficit to 2-1, and twice again in the sixth to pull within 4-3. The Riverhawks mounted a bases-loaded rally in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t score.

“The game came down to one pitch at the end, but again things just didn’t go our way, and it easily could have,” said Clark. “Our starting pitcher, Gunnar Bustos (six strikeouts, seven hits allowed), competed well enough to keep us in the game with a chance to win. Both of the games versus Estacada were tight and really could’ve gone to either team.”

The Riverhawks were led offensively by Ortega (1-for-4, RBI), Kale Beardmore (1-for-3), Peterson (1-for-3) and senior Hunter Bustos (1-for-3, RBI).

The Riverhawks played their third game in four days and lost at home on May 7, 14-5, to the No. 1-ranked Molalla High Indians (5-2 TVC, 14-7 overall).

“We just made too many defensive mistakes against a more experienced Molalla team,” said Clark. “Their lineup is deep and they pitch well. We had chances, but we just never got much going offensively. The Tri-Valley Conference is tough this season. We are young and learning a lot of valuable lessons this spring that will hopefully pay off in major ways over the next few years.”

The Riverhawks were led offensively by Evan Ortega (2-for-4, RBI), Beardmore (2-for-4, RBI), Gunnar Bustos (2-for-4, two RBI) and freshman Joel Ortega (1-for-3).

The Riverhawks are in fourth place in the five-team league standings with four games remaining. The top two TVC squads earn an automatic playoff berth in the 16-team playoffs.