Walker gem leads charge for No. 5 TDW baseball

TDW 19-7 9-3

Hermiston 16-6 8-4

HRV 12-13 5-7

Pendleton 10-15 2-10

TDW 3, North Salem 1

N.SA 000 100 0 — 1 6 1

TDW 100 020 x — 3 8 2

Dakota Walker and Clay Copper. W: Walker (6-3). SO/BB: Walker 3/2.

OFFENSE: HR: Nolan McCall (TDW); 2B: McCall (TDW).

TDW: Justin Sugg 2-4 run, fielder’s choice; McCall 2-3 run, 3 RBIs; Kaci Kiser 1-2 run, 2 walks; Walker 0-3 fielder’s choice; Copper 1-2 walk; Steven Bartells 1-3; Connor Mathisen 0-4; Kevin Henderson 1-2 sacrficie bunt; Austin Wilson 0-3 fielder’s choice. -- LOB: 9.

In his last two outings, The Dalles Wahtonka senior Dakota Walker had been tagged for seven runs on 10 hits with eight walks in six frames, but Tuesday, he put it all together for another dominant performance against 6A North Salem.

The right-hander scattered six hits and struck out three in a complete-game effort to stifle the Vikings and lead the No. 5-ranked Eagle Indians to a 3-1 victory Tuesday at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.

“Dakota had a great outing against a tough team,” said 2013 Columbia River Conference Coach of the Year J.R. Runyon. “He hit his spots well and relied on his teammates to make the plays, which they did. (It was a) great effort.”

Walker allowed one extra base hit and walked two and his defense committed two errors, but he was able to keep the damage to a minimum.

The Eagle Indian offense also came through for eight hits and three walks, with all of the damage coming off the bat of all-state third baseman Nolan McCall.

McCall (.414 batting average) went 2 for 3 with a double and his team-leading ninth homer of the season.

He also added to his team lead in RBIs at 41, two of which came in the bottom of the fifth inning to break open a 1-all deadlock.

Justin Sugg (.340) added two hits and a run scored, and Kaci Kiser (.413) went 1 for 2 with two walks as part of TDW’s eight-hit attack.

Clay Copper (.329), Steven Bartells (.360) and Kevin Henderson (.350) chipped in with hits as well, and Copper also received a free pass, as the Eagle Indians stranded nine runners overall.

With this final game in the books, the CRC league champions have a week off for a playoff bye until hitting the field again on Wednesday, May 22, unless another game is put on the schedule between now and Monday.

Now the emphasis is placed on staying sharp.

“We want to keep things going the way they have been,” said TDW player Austin Wilson in an earlier interview. “I think it is important for us to realize what we are playing for, so we want to keep working hard in practice to get where we want to go. (There is) a lot of season still left for us.”

No. 2-ranked Hermiston (16-6, 8-4) has a bye week on tap, but both Pendleton (10-15, 2-10) and Hood River Valley (12-13, 5-7) have state play-in games scheduled for Friday.

The No. 19 Buckaroos travel to No. 15 Summit (15-12) for a 4:30 p.m. matchup, while No. 11 HRV hosts No. 22 North Eugene (10-16) in another hardball contest Friday evening.