Rangers respond with a blowout victory

“We definitely came out firing today,” Bales said. “In the first game, we had some jitters coming in, but we got those out obviously, and came out and showed that we were capable of playing Dufur baseball. We played a great all-around game today.”

In all, Dufur scored in every inning of play, and with the score knotted at 1-apiece in the bottom of the second, a six-run explosion put the Monarchs away.

Tanner Masterson walked and Russell Peters followed with a double to put runners in scoring position to start the rally.

No. 9 hitter, Cayton Sinay, then broke the deadlock with a two-run single, giving the Rangers a 3-1 lead.

One out later, Bailey Keever posted an RBI single, chasing home Sinay, and after an intentional walk to Bales, Pence rifled a two-run triple to left centerfield to make it, 5-1.

Pence later scored on a wild pitch and Curtis Crawford crossed the plate after a two-out, RBI triple off the bat of Tabor McLaughlin.

“We have a great group of guys here,” Bales said. “Once the hits start rolling, everybody starts rolling and we get that momentum, and everyone buys into that mindset of keeping it going. That gets us fired up even more. Cayton Sinay had a great hit there to get the runs rolling to get us on top in this game.”

Following a bumpy second frame, where he allowed a run on a balk, Bales shut down Umpqua Valley (19-9 overall) in order in the third, as he got some defensive help by Pence at third base on a line drive, and Masterson made a diving snag of a blooper in short right field to end the inning.

The Rangers (24-1) tacked on two third-inning runs to lead 9-1 and Bales struck out the side in the top of the fourth.

Dufur swelled its advantage to 11-1 after adding a pair of runs in the fourth, as Crawford scored on an error and Sinay drove in McLaughlin with an RBI single.

Bales struck out four Umpqua batters in the fifth, and fanned the first two batters he faced in the sixth, before being lifted for Pence.

The senior left-hander hit two batters and had two balks, and struck out 14 with no walks on 84 pitches in his 5 2/3 innings of work.

“I started off a little slow, but I started loosening up a little more and I started finding a groove on the mound,” Bales said. “I hit my spots like I should and felt better and better as the game went on. They definitely tried to work the count there a little bit, but I settled in and got the job done.”

Peters drove in Crawford, McLaughlin and Louis Red Cloud on a bases-clearing double to give Dufur a 14-1 cushion, and in the bottom of the sixth, Uhalde scored on an error and Bales drove in Keever with an RBI single to left.

Pence faced three Umpqua Valley batters in the top of the seventh, and struck out two and induced a game-ending groundout.

With the win, Dufur plays fifth-seeded Reedsport (23-3) at 4 p.m. today at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.

The Braves have lost to Kennedy, Monroe and North Bend this season, but exacted some revenge last Friday with a 1-0 state quarterfinal victory over Monroe.

After a 17-2 mercy-ruled loss to Culver on May 12, Dufur has won games over Sherman, Bandon and Umpqua Valley Christian to advance to the semifinals for the first time in school history.

Not a bad turnaround from 2016, where the Rangers finished with 12 wins and second place in the Blue Mountain Conference with a roster of nine underclassmen and three juniors.

Through early injuries to Bales and Pence, Dufur overcame a 3-9 start with seven wins in its final nine contests to make the playoffs.

“When you look at the season we had last year, we made it to the state playoffs, but we had a losing record, one of the few that we have had at Dufur,” said Dufur coach C.S. Little. “To come back from that season, which I felt was a great season because of what we accomplished with such a young nucleus of kids, is a great feeling. To see them grow into this, and then you have a couple of kids come back from injury and put those two dynamics together, it is the recipe for a lot of wins. We have surpassed what we were expected to do this year. They have all come together.”

Pence was 3 for 5 with a run scored and three RBIs, Bales had two hits, two walks, a run scored and two RBIs, Keever was 1 for 4 with a walk, four stolen bases, four runs scored and an RBI, and Uhalde chipped in two doubles and two runs scored.

Sinay notched two hits and three RBIs, Crawford posted two hits and three runs, and Red Cloud had a hit and a run scored.

McLaughlin had a double and a triple, two runs and an RBI, and Peters went 2 for 4 with two doubles, a run and drove in three runs

As one of the Ranger newcomers, Peters, a sophomore, has acclimated well to the 2A varsity game, playing solid ball at third base and catcher.

With the seniors leading the way, Peters has felt like a member of the family from the start of camp.

“They have brought me in and made me part of the team,” Peters said. “I really appreciate Bales believing in me and letting me catch for him. It is really fun to be part of what he has accomplished and what this team has accomplished. We are a complete team. From Day 1, I have always felt like we have been a team. We mesh really well and there are no personality clashes or anything like that, so we have all bought into that message and it has allowed us to get as far as we have.”

The job is far from over, however, and the Rangers sit two wins from claiming a first state championship.

“It means a lot for all the seniors,” Bales said. “People kind of doubted us coming in. They didn’t think we were the best group, but obviously we have shown them here by going into the semifinal game. Hopefully, we can continue playing the all-around ball we are capable of, this way we can keep it rolling into the championship.”