ASTORIA 14'S, 15'S ON TO STATE!
The Astoria 14 and 15-year-old Babe Ruth All-star teams each won three consecutive loser out games to clinch championships at their respective District 1 tournaments on Sunday.
The 15-year-old team qualified for the state tournament at La Grande, starting July 20th with a 14-4 victory over S.E. Portland. Astoria scored a combined 36 wins in a pair of victories over the team that sent them into the loser's bracket with an extra inning win on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Astoria 14-year-olds, already guaranteed a state tournament berth as the host team, qualified the hard way, by beating Beaverton 11-7 on Sunday. Astoria's Ernie Aiken Field is the host site for the 15-year-old State Tournament, which also is scheduled to begin Thursday, July 20. All three district representatives will receive invitations, so Astoria will have at least two familiar opponents.
The 15-year-olds won a marathon 22-18 game over S.E. Portland on Saturday, forcing a rematch Sunday afternoon at Fowler Middle School in Tigard. The 3-hour-plus affair was Astoria's second game of the day on Saturday as the Clatsop-Pacific county squad defeated Tigard-Tualatin 6-2 in a losers' bracket game earlier in the day. Willie Einerson got the win on the mound against Tigard, taking over for starter Troy Sarpola in the second inning. Nate West had a pair of hits, including a double and two RBI's. Joe Strickland scored a pair of runs in the win.
Astoria fell behind S.E. Portland 8-3 before rolling up eight runs in the fourth inning and nine more in the fifth, taking advantage of numerous bases on balls as the Portlanders pitching staff ran thin. West, Sarpola, Strickland and Steven Peterson all had 2-run singles in the onslaught and Trevor Puckett had an RBI triple, later adding an RBI double in the seventh inning when Astoria added three insurance runs after S.E. Portland made things interesting witha a 7-run fith inning to close within 20-15.
Fortunately for Astoria, plenty of life was left in the bats on Sunday, when they batted around in the third inning to score nine runs, taking a commanding lead. Mason Brause had two hits in the inning, Puckett had a 2-run triple, West and Einerson had 2-run doubles. West pitched a complete game in the state-clinching victory, allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits.
The Astoria 14-year-olds never trailed Sunday, after scoring four runs in the first inning. Marc Gallegos got things started on the right track, leading off the game with a triple. However, Gallegos would leave the game with a hip injury after doubling in his second at bat in the third inning.
Astoria was able to take advantage of its speed, running at will. Ian Dueber started on the mound and pitched strong before running into trouble in the fifth, leaving with two runners on and nobody out. Max Johnson, limited to one inning after pitching six the previous day, tried to put out the fire, but Beaverton took advantage of a few errors, including an overthrow on a squeeze bunt attempt that scored three runs. Beaverton scored five runs in the fifth but could not overtake Astoria.
The Astoria 14-year-old group will continue its quest for a third consecutive state championship and regional tournament berth on Thursday, July 20th. Regionals will be hosted by South Umpqua in August. This group of kids reached the regional semifinals last year as 13-year-olds, losing to Roseburg in extra innings, after finishing second in the Pacific N.W. Regional to Kennewick as 12-year-olds two years ago.
The 15-year-old team qualified for the state tournament at La Grande, starting July 20th with a 14-4 victory over S.E. Portland. Astoria scored a combined 36 wins in a pair of victories over the team that sent them into the loser's bracket with an extra inning win on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Astoria 14-year-olds, already guaranteed a state tournament berth as the host team, qualified the hard way, by beating Beaverton 11-7 on Sunday. Astoria's Ernie Aiken Field is the host site for the 15-year-old State Tournament, which also is scheduled to begin Thursday, July 20. All three district representatives will receive invitations, so Astoria will have at least two familiar opponents.
The 15-year-olds won a marathon 22-18 game over S.E. Portland on Saturday, forcing a rematch Sunday afternoon at Fowler Middle School in Tigard. The 3-hour-plus affair was Astoria's second game of the day on Saturday as the Clatsop-Pacific county squad defeated Tigard-Tualatin 6-2 in a losers' bracket game earlier in the day. Willie Einerson got the win on the mound against Tigard, taking over for starter Troy Sarpola in the second inning. Nate West had a pair of hits, including a double and two RBI's. Joe Strickland scored a pair of runs in the win.
Astoria fell behind S.E. Portland 8-3 before rolling up eight runs in the fourth inning and nine more in the fifth, taking advantage of numerous bases on balls as the Portlanders pitching staff ran thin. West, Sarpola, Strickland and Steven Peterson all had 2-run singles in the onslaught and Trevor Puckett had an RBI triple, later adding an RBI double in the seventh inning when Astoria added three insurance runs after S.E. Portland made things interesting witha a 7-run fith inning to close within 20-15.
Fortunately for Astoria, plenty of life was left in the bats on Sunday, when they batted around in the third inning to score nine runs, taking a commanding lead. Mason Brause had two hits in the inning, Puckett had a 2-run triple, West and Einerson had 2-run doubles. West pitched a complete game in the state-clinching victory, allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits.
The Astoria 14-year-olds never trailed Sunday, after scoring four runs in the first inning. Marc Gallegos got things started on the right track, leading off the game with a triple. However, Gallegos would leave the game with a hip injury after doubling in his second at bat in the third inning.
Astoria was able to take advantage of its speed, running at will. Ian Dueber started on the mound and pitched strong before running into trouble in the fifth, leaving with two runners on and nobody out. Max Johnson, limited to one inning after pitching six the previous day, tried to put out the fire, but Beaverton took advantage of a few errors, including an overthrow on a squeeze bunt attempt that scored three runs. Beaverton scored five runs in the fifth but could not overtake Astoria.
The Astoria 14-year-old group will continue its quest for a third consecutive state championship and regional tournament berth on Thursday, July 20th. Regionals will be hosted by South Umpqua in August. This group of kids reached the regional semifinals last year as 13-year-olds, losing to Roseburg in extra innings, after finishing second in the Pacific N.W. Regional to Kennewick as 12-year-olds two years ago.
posted by Matt Richert at 8:57 PM
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