The Dalles baseball player Bailey Ortega slides home safely during Saturday’s game played at Bob Williams Field in The Dalles. The Riverhawks scored a two-game split versus Pendleton, winning the first game by a 4-2 margin. Ray Rodriguez photo
The Dalles baseball player Bailey Ortega slides home safely during Saturday’s game played at Bob Williams Field in The Dalles. The Riverhawks scored a two-game split versus Pendleton, winning the first game by a 4-2 margin. Ray Rodriguez photo
The Dalles baseball team salvaged a split Saturday at home against Pendleton, winning the opener 4-2 and losing the nightcap by a 15-8 margin in a Columbia River Conference doubleheader at Bob Williams Field.
Bailey Ortega continued his torrid pitching in the opening game, as he allowed two runs in the first inning, but shut down the Buckaroos the rest of the way.
The right-hander had seven strikeouts and scattered five hits with one walk in his seven-inning performance.
After the first inning, Ortega allowed three hits and walked a batter, but retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced, seven on flyouts.
“This is the third game in a row that he has given us a lights-out performance,” said senior outfielder Cash Mathewson. “He competes hard the whole way. I don’t think a team has scored more than three runs off him in league. He has been fantastic for us. This is amazing. I know he didn’t play his sophomore year and he comes up this year on varsity and has done an amazing job. He keeps us in games and gives us a chance. He is a great piece of the puzzle for us.”
Down 2-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, the Riverhawks finally got on the scoreboard against Quinn Cockburn. William Justesen led off with a single, and one out later, Boston Bate laced an RBI single to left to plate Justesen to make it a 2-1 deficit.
Mathewson reached on a single to put two runners on base for leadoff hitter, Johnny Miller.
On a 1-0 pitch, Miller smashed a two-run double to score bate and Mathewson to swell the Hawk advantage to 3-2.
Miller later scored on a fielder’s choice by Colin Noonan.
Ortega retired the side in order in the sixth, and then with the tying run at the plate in the seventh, he struck out Nick Bower on five pitches, and then induced a game-ending groundball to shortstop by Daniel Naughton.
TD posted seven hits in the first game, as Miller led with a hit, a run scored and two RBIs.
Bate added a 2 for 2 effort with an RBI, Dawson Hoffman went 1 for 3 with an RBI, and Mathewson had a hit and a run scored in two official at-bats.
In the nightcap, the Riverhawks scored five runs in the fourth inning and added three more in the fifth, but Pendleton six runs in the sixth inning and tack on five in the top of the seventh to secure a 15-8 win and the split.
TD starter Colton Walker lasted six inning, and allowed 10 runs, six earned, on 10 hits. He struck out 12 and walked three.
Bate went 2 for 3 with two runs and two RBIs, Ortega added two hits, two RBIs and a run scored and Walker went 1 for 2 with two runs scored.
Noonan also had two hits for the Riverhawks, who totaled 11 for the game to go along with three walks and three hit by pitches.
TD stranded eight runners.
“We showed that we can be a really good team in the first part of the game and we had Bailey doing his thing on the mound and we were swinging the bats behind him,” Bate said. “We got to keep it rolling through an entire game and we got to have that fire. We need to keep hitting the ball the way we have been. If we can play consistent baseball, we know what we are capable of.”
The Riverhawks (8-9 overall, 2-3 league) are in Pendleton today, looking for a chance to move closer to earning a postseason bid.
They are currently tied for second place with Hermiston, a game in front of Pendleton with seven league games remaining.
“I think we can do it,” Mathewson said. “It is going to take much more work. We need our pitching, defense and hitting to show more consistency every time we step on the field. If we can do that, we know we can be a tough team to play against. When stuff hits the fan like it did today, it is all about us coming together and battling back and fight through adversity.”
After tonight’s game, the Hawks travel to No. 1-ranked Hood River (15-3, 5-0) for a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m. Friday.
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