Coming off a stretch last week where they lost three of four games, the Columbia Gorge Hustlers were looking for a rebound performance.
They got it and then some.
Johnny Miller drove in six runs, and Kolbe Bales went 4 for 4 with five runs scored and two RBIs to lead the Hustlers to a 19-7 mercy-ruled win over the Northwest Stars Friday at Bob Williams Field.
“This game was a gut check game,” said Hustler head coach Chris Loyd. “We hit a rough patch in the last couple of games, so I told the young men that we still believe, as coaches, that their best baseball was still in front of them. The young men on this team accepted this challenge and proved to themselves how good they could be if they played for each other instead of playing as individuals.”
In all, the Hustlers rattled off 14 hits, received 10 walks and had five players reach after being hit by pitches.
Eight different players scored runs and six players drove in runs for a Hustler team that had their top two hitters in the batting order, Morgan Williams and Colin Noonan, finish a combined 4 for 7 with five walks and four runs scored.
Patrick Harvey added four RBIs and two runs scored, Kellen Mathisen drove in two runs and Miller went 2 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.
The Hustlers scored four runs in the first inning and added a single run in the third to jump ahead by a 5-0 margin.
Ahead 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Bales had a bases-loaded walk scoring Harvey, Colton Walker scored a passed ball and Miller chipped in with a two-out, two-run single to plate Dallas Buckley and Bales, and later, Miller capped the outburst by scoring on a passed ball to give the Hustlers a 10-3 cushion.
The Stars crept to within a 10-6 deficit after a three-run fifth frame, but the Hustlers had a quick answer in the home half with six runs on two hits and three walks and a hit by pitch.
Harvey drove in Williams and Noonan with a single, Boston Bate had an RBI single to drive in Buckley, Miller had another two-run hit, and he finished the inning by crossing home on a passed ball.
All of this offensive support was plenty for ace righty Bailey Ortega.
The right-hander tossed 5 2/3 innings of six-hit ball with two strikeouts and a walk.
Ortega started the game by retiring 10 of the first 11 batters he faced on 29 pitches. Six of those outs were on one pitch or less.
Ortega ran into some trouble in the fourth and fifth innings, but managed to escape those jams with inning-ending groundouts.
Bate finished the final 1 1/3 innings, including a 1-2-3 seventh to close out the mercy-rule win.
“What impressed us the most, as coaches, were the zero errors,” Loyd added. “As a coach, all you want from these young men is a complete effort for nine innings. That’s what they did.”
The Hustlers (2-5 overall, 2-1 league) host Mound Time at 1 p.m. Sunday for a doubleheader at Bob Williams Field.
At 6 p.m. Monday, the Hustlers head to Wilsonville High School for a nine-inning tilt at 6 p.m.
On Wednesday, June 29, CGH hosts Alpenrose for a nine-inning game at 5 p.m.
All home games are broadcast by Al Wynn on KODL 1440 AM.
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