Gritty performance

Spencer Honald struck out six in a complete game performance and Kolbe Bales went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double and five RBIs, as The Dalles 13-15 Babe Ruth All Stars defeated Glacier 8-7 in a regional pool play game Thursday at Quinton Street Ballpark.

“The team we played today is one of the better teams I have seen at this tournament and we came out and pushed ourselves to do our best,” Bales said. “It was a David versus Goliath game and we came out and showed them what we got and we showed the people of The Dalles, Dufur and all these towns that we can actually play baseball.”

With the mounting pressure, Honald stranded the tying run on third base in the sixth inning and shut down the top of Glacier’s order on seven pitches in the seventh.

TD head coach Jeff Justesen said it would have taken himself and assistants Marcus Denney and Dean Dollarhide to crowbar Honald off the mound.

“With a one-run lead going into that seventh inning, it was his game to win or lose and he deserved the chance to go out there and do it,” Justesen said. “He did. The top of the order, those guys are good hitters and he did the job.”

Glacier had been down 8-4, but inched to within an 8-7 deficit after an RBI groundout by Caleb Meehan plated Ryan Thompson.

With Quinton Schriver at third base representing the tying run, Honald squared off against No. 9 hitter, Skyler Warner.

On the first pitch, Warner hit a dribbler to Bales at first base for the final out.

The Dalles had a chance to add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, but Tylan Webster was left stranded at third base after a strikeout by Glacier reliever Drew Scherrer kept TD at bay.

Entering the top of the seventh inning at 94 pitches, Honald had the task of outdueling the top of Glacier’s order.

Honald forced a popup by Austin Green, a flyout to right field by Tom Hellwig and a game-ending groundout to shortstop by Terek Bistodeau to seal the victory.

“Spencer pitched a heck of a game. I mean hats off to him,” said TD shortstop Bailey Keever. “He got himself into some holes, but he dug himself out and he really came up big for us tonight. He did a great job pitching. It was great.”

The Dalles led 1-0 until the top of the third inning, when Glacier rallied for four runs, three unearned, to inch ahead 4-1.

In the home half of the third, TD answered right back with a two-run, bad hop single by Bales that scored Keever and Webster to make it a 4-3 deficit.

With two outs and Honald at third base and bales at second, Bradley Moe worked a six-pitch at-bat against Bistodeau, Glacier’s starting pitcher.

On a 3-2 pitch, Moe blooped a two-run single to short right field to score Honald and Bales to move TD ahead by a 5-4 score.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Bales had Keever, Connor Uhalde and Honald on base facing Scherrer.

Bales rifled a 2-2 fastball deep into the left centerfield gap to clear the bases and surge TD to an 8-4 advantage.

From that point on, TD was held without a hit, as Glacier mounted its comeback.

Glacier, who finished third in regionals last season, posted seven hits, but left runners on third base in the third, fifth and sixth innings and had a runner thrown out at third base in the fourth.

“We had a couple things that didn’t go our way, but what I love about it is my team showed heart and they came back,” said Glacier coach Chad Green. “It could have been real easy to quit there, but they kept battling to make it a one run game. So, I am happy about that.”

Hellwig went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs, Max Smyley had a hit and two RBIs, and Warner went 1-for-3 with a stolen base, an RBI and two runs scored.

Meehan and Thompson also had a hit and a run scored each.

“Glacier is a strong, fundamental team. They work hard, they hit the ball well, they run the bases good, they play good defense and they can do all of the little things,” Coach Justesen said.

Honald allowed seven runs, four earned, on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts to pick up the win.

Offensively for The Dalles, Bales had a single, a double, a walk, scored a run and drove in five.

Uhalde added a hit, a walk and scored two runs, Moe went 1-for-2 with two RBIs, and Keever tacked on a hit, a walk and two runs to pace TD’s five-hit attack.

“When you have a lineup like that with hitters from top-to-bottom, it is hard for the defense to set up, get comfortable and get into a groove because we have 9-10 players who can hit the ball constantly,” Keever said. “It is really a great gift. In these last two games, we have come out and shown our bats. We just need to continue to work hard like we do and we will be fine.”

After two wins by a combined 19-8 margin, The Dalles has set itself into position to punch a ticket into the championship rounds Sunday.

As a cautionary tale, however, Justesen told his team that there is no time to relax.

Keever likened the team’s mentality to that of playing every game like it is their last.

Bales is focused on executing the fundamentals of the game.

If they can do that at a consistent level, everything will fall into place.

“It is going to take pitchers throwing strikes and we are going to have to cut down our errors, that’s going to help and we just got to keep hitting the ball, hitting the gaps and getting on base and scoring runs,” Bales said. “That’s what it is going to take for us to get into the championship.”

In other regional pool play games played at Quinton Street Ballpark, Snake River Valley defeated Klamath Falls by an 8-7 score.

Alberta dropped Meridan, 13-1, Longview, Wash. beat Union County 18-7, and Columbia Basin bested Snake River Valley, 14-3.

TD (2-0 overall) plays Meridian, Idaho (0-2) at 7 p.m. tonight.

At 4:30 p.m. Saturday, The Dalles faces off against Riverton (0-1).