Dufur Ranger baseball players, from left to right, Russell Peters and Louis Red Cloud were on the field in Tuesday’s doubleheader loss to Lyle-Wishram by mercy-ruled final scores of 13-0 and 15-1, which moved their losing streak to five games. In those 10 innings played, Dufur tallied six hits, three walks and had two hit batters, to go along with 10 strikeouts. Dufur hosts Sherman in a recently-added non-league contest at 4 p.m. Friday.
Dufur Ranger baseball players, from left to right, Russell Peters and Louis Red Cloud were on the field in Tuesday’s doubleheader loss to Lyle-Wishram by mercy-ruled final scores of 13-0 and 15-1, which moved their losing streak to five games. In those 10 innings played, Dufur tallied six hits, three walks and had two hit batters, to go along with 10 strikeouts. Dufur hosts Sherman in a recently-added non-league contest at 4 p.m. Friday.
DUFUR – Following Tuesday’s losses at home versus Lyle-Wishram, the Dufur Rangers see themselves mired in a five-game losing streak.
With such a young, inexperienced squad, this bump in the road can have a devastating effect or it can rally the troops.
Louis Red Cloud is feeling that this team can re-capture the fire necessary to make a run.
“I think this team has a lot of potential. They showed it earlier this season, so we need to focus on what we did well when we were winning, like taking it back to basics and doing better on our hitting, fielding and pitching,” Red Cloud said. “Since we are young and we lost a lot of good players, there are people that think we won’t make it to districts, but I believe we can do what it takes to get back there.”
In 10 innings played Tuesday, losses of 13-0 and 15-1, the Rangers posted six hits, three walks and had two hit batters, to go along with 10 strikeouts.
Those numbers are a far cry from games against Riverside and Country Christian, where Dufur racked up 21 runs.
During this losing skid, the Rangers have managed just 12 runs.
“We are struggling at the plate a little, but the big thing for us is going into every at-bat with a purpose and with confidence,” Dufur catcher Joe Turk said. “Baseball is a mental game. if we approach it scared or nervous, thinking we will fail, we will. We have to be ready to play hard and be aggressive at the plate.”
In the opening game, Curtis Crawford and Russell Peters each went 1 for 2, Parker Wallace added a hit in his only at-bat, and both Seth Harvey and Jackie Culps were issued walks.
Dufur stranded four baserunners in its 13-0 five-inning shutout loss.
The Rangers added three hits, a walk and had two batters hit by pitches in the nightcap, a 15-1 setback in five frames, with Peters going 2 for 3 with a double and a run scored.
With one out, Peters at third and younger brother, Jacob Peters, at second base, Wallace drove in Russell with a RBI groundout to second, which made the score 5-1 in the bottom of the second inning.
Crawford was 0 for 2 and was hit by a pitch, Jacob Peters ended up going 1 for 2, and Caleb Olson reached safely in two at-bats with a hit by pitch and a walk.
When looking at the big picture, the Rangers have dealt with adversity in five players that were expected to return and contribute are no longer on the team, so three freshmen and a sophomore have been thrust into varsity duty.
It has been a tough learning curve, but Red Cloud feels that core will grow from the experience.
“We have our practices to work on some things to get better,” Red Cloud said. “We can’t worry about losing a couple of non-league games, so it’s important for all of us to stay positive.”
Dufur (2-5 overall) hosts Sherman at 4 p.m. Friday, and then kicks off league action at 4 p.m. on Monday in Culver.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.