Two years ago, Bailey Ortega was a varsity golfer.
After Friday’s six-inning masterpiece against No. 13 Hermiston, the senior pitcher is cementing his name atop the Columbia River Conference all-league list.
Ortega tossed six innings of two-hit ball with two strikeouts, as he outdueled Hermiston ace R.J. Robles in The Dalles’ 5-1 victory at Bob Williams Field in The Dalles.
With the senior’s performance, the Riverhawks are on the cusp of the postseason, needing a win Tuesday at Pendleton to punch their ticket.
“It feels great to contribute the way I did,” Ortega said. “My teammates played great defense behind me, spectacular defense, and it gave me so much confidence to pitch well in a must-win game. We have another must-win game at Pendleton on Tuesday. If we win, we are in the play-ins and who knows what can happen from there.”
In 27 innings of league play, Ortega is 3-1 and has allowed two earned runs on 15 hits, with 18 strikeouts and eight walks for a microscopic ERA of 0.52. Opponents are hitting just .160 against him.
TD head coach J.R. Runyon credits both Ortega and senior catcher Kellen Mathisen for establishing a plan of attack on opposing hitters and executing it to perfection.
That chemistry has worked well all year and has led to Ortega’s resurgence.
“He hits spots and mixes pitches. He is just smart,” Runyon said. “I can’t say enough good things about Bailey and his effort and his drive for the game and how much he competes. I love seeing him out there every day. The guys rally around him. They know what kind of effort they are going to get from him. He keeps us in games and gives us a chance every time he is on the mound.”
The Riverhawk righty retired the first seven Hermiston batters he faced on 23 pitches and added two stretches of five outs in a row, before getting into a jam in the top of the sixth inning with two outs.
He walked Chase Root, hit Daniel Gossler and gave up an RBI single to Tyler Sexton, and Hermiston had two runners on base, trailing by a 5-1 margin.
Ortega then induced an inning-ending flyout by Slade Gritz to end the threat.
Ortega walked two batters and stranded four runners in his 61-pitch effort against a Bulldog offense that has scored five runs or more seven times this season.
Senior pitcher Colton Walker shut down Hermiston in the top of the seventh inning on two groundouts and a strikeout to preserve the win.
While Ortega was in a zone doing his part, Robles was just as effective, holding TD hitless through the first three innings on seven strikeouts.
TD got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth on two walks, an error and an RBI sacrifice fly by Mathisen to make it a 1-0 game.
The Riverhawks then created some distance in the fifth frame on three singles, two walks and a hit batter.
Boston Bate notched the first hit of the game, Dawson Hoffman followed with a walk and Colin Noonan had an RBI single to make it a 2-0 contest.
Cash Mathewson tacked on another RBI single, Colton Walker was issued a walk and then Mathisen delivered a bases-loaded RBI single to score Noonan and Mathewson to extend the lead to 5-0.
Noonan went 1 for 2 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI, and Mathewson added a hit, a run, a walk and an RBI.
Mathisen had a hit and three RBIs, and both Hoffman and Spencer Honald scored a run apiece.
“As a coaching staff, we know what they are capable of,” Runyon said. “We have been waiting for them to put a complete game together with defense and offense and they did it today. We could not be more proud of our guys. Every single person stepped up in their own way. We had outstanding performances from our pitchers, but we had great plays in the field and guys got it done when we had runners in scoring position.”
With a chance now to keep their season going, Daniel Peters said the underclassmen and other players have it in their hearts to try and extend the season for the seven seniors on the roster.
It has been a roller-coaster year on the diamond, but through it all, this group has remained united on all fronts.
“Obviously, we want to do our best for these seniors,” Peters said. “Since it is their last year, I think it is really important to play as hard as we can in every single game. I think now we are starting to show that for them. Hopefully, we will be able to show that more for our last couple of games.”
TD (9-13 overall, 3-7 league) hits the field at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Pendleton (11-12, 2-8).
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.