Desperation mode

Kristian Lucas and the other five seniors realize now this could very well be their last week together on the diamond.

“We need to go out and practice hard and give it everything we have because this could be our senior’s last game Friday,” Lucas said. “I am really confident we can beat Hood River. We have beaten them once here in our hometown and now we got to go out and beat them in their hometown. We can do this.”

Pendleton scored four runs, one earned, in the top of the first inning and broke open a 5-4 lead with four runs in the top of the sixth to hold on for a 10-6 victory in a Columbia River Conference matchup at Quinton Street Ballpark.

Overall, the Buckaroos (10-14 overall, 6-5 league) rapped out 11 hits and received four walks in seven innings.

Of the 10 runs scored, six were earned, as the Riverhawks committed four errors.

“We just beat ourselves and didn’t play up to the best of our abilities,” said catcher Kellen Mathisen. “We hit decent, but we had some mental errors that just can’t happen. We let up there in the first inning and couldn’t get it back. Colton (Walker) pitched a great game, but we weren’t there for him.”

Walker faced 30 batters in his five innings of work and allowed eight runs, four earned, on seven hits and four walked.

The junior right-hander struck out two.

Down by a 5-1 score entering the bottom of the fourth inning, momentum swung in TD’s favor with three runs on three hits against Pendleton starter Quinn Cockburn.

Walker, Payton Eaton and Ross Kohl each had hits, and Walker, Tanner Piekkola and Eaton scored runs, but the Riverhawks also had two runners thrown out on the base paths and stranded one runner to keep it a 5-4 Pendleton lead.

With the Bucks up 9-4 in the home half of the sixth inning, the Riverhawks did not go down easily.

Dylan DesRochers led off with a walk and Lucas reached on an error.

Boston Bate drove in DesRochers with an RBI single.

One out later, Ross Kohl roped a run-scoring single to plate Lucas to inch the Hawks to within a 9-6 deficit.

With Kohl at second base and Colin Noonan at first with two outs, senior Gordy Harris represented the tying run at the plate.

On a 1-1 pitch, Harris slammed a hard liner that was caught by Pendleton right fielder Alex O’Rourke to retire the side.

The Dalles (10-14, 4-7) went down in order in the seventh inning.

Cockburn allowed six runs, two earned, on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in his complete-game effort.

Pendleton coach Greg Whitten credited the fast start to his team’s fourth road victory in nine tries.

“This was an important game for us and we came ready to play,” Whitten said. “When we scored those four runs in the first inning, I think it took the pressure off and my kids relaxed. We still made some mistakes on the field and didn’t play a perfect game, but we swung the bats pretty well.”

Walker was 2 for 2 with a run scored and Kohl added two hits, two RBIs and a run scored to pace The Dalles.

Bate had a hit and an RBI, Eaton had a hit and a run scored and Piekkola, Lucas and DesRochers scored a run apiece.

From the start of camp, Mathisen said playoffs were a goal.

The fate of TD’s season could very well be hanging in the balance Friday against a rivalry school in Hood River Valley (16-8, 8-3).

“If we play our very best game with no mental errors or anything like that, I don’t think there are a whole lot of teams that we can’t compete with, so I am not worried,” Mathisen said.

Hermiston (11-11, 4-7) travels to Pendleton for its final league contest at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

If The Dalles wins and Hermiston loses, they get third place and vice versa.

If the Hawks and Bulldogs each win, TD earns the tiebreaker.

If both teams lose, there is a tie, then it goes to possible coin flip.

Varsity action starts in Hood River at 4:30 p.m. Friday.