FISHERMEN POUND MUSTANGS TO ADVANCE TO SEMIS
It's like asking a child to choose betweeen cake and cookies.
A stiff breeze blowing out to left field at Astoria's cozy Aiken Field, or the warmer climate and higher elevation of Grant Pass' Nuggets Field, where the ball carries very well indeed. Where would you rather hit a baseball?
The Astoria Fishermen don't seem to be too particular, as they've now won at home and on the road in the playoffs and will hit the highway again in search of their 26th consecutive victory and a trip to the state championship.
Astoria crushed the ball on Friday, with 18 hits, nine for extra bases, in a 17-4 mauling of Hidden Valley in Grants Pass. The Fishermen will have to win three straight games on the road in order to clinch their second consecutive state championship, as they head to Optimist Field in La Grande to take on the Greater Oregon League champion Tigers on Tuesday.
Sixth-ranked La Grande defeated Marist 4-1 in Friday's quarterfinals. Also advancing were top-ranked Newport and third-ranked Henley, both winning in similarly easy fashion with routs over Yamhill-Carlton (26-4) and Brookings-Harbor (18-2) respectively.
It was apparent from the first fair ball hit on Friday that it would be a hitter's day in Grants Pass. Brent Culver hit a fairly deep fly ball that just kept going...and going. Culver reached second on the first of six doubles by Astoria hitters, scoring on a ground out by Tom Jaworski. Matt Brause followed with another double, advanced on an errors and crossed the plate on a Jordan Poyer sacrifice fly to center field. Adam Koehnke polished off a 4-run Astoria first inning with the third double of the day, later scoring on a straight steal of home.
"We showed up in the morning and made the astute assumption that nothing was going to travel," said Astoria head coach Dave Gasser, who improved to 50-7 with the Fishermen and recorded win number 586 of his career, five short of all-time leader Art Thunell of Grant Union. "because it wasn't traveling anywhere. We show up later and its drier, the wind is blowing out and everything is carrying like a son-of-a-gun. It was a good day to be a hitter."
With a 4-run lead and many more to come, Fishermen fans have become accustomed to resting easy with ace pitcher Brause on the mound. Brause (11-0), the reigning 3A State Player of the Year, improved his 2-year record to 27-0 with Friday's win. Although the unbeaten righthander pitched well on Friday, Hidden Valley's lineup proved to be plenty formidable.
"The ball carried really well there," said Brause. "We probably peppered about six of them off the fence. They put two over. I would like to say those wouldn't have gone out if they didn't carry, but they were shots!"
Hidden Valley's Matt Stuart homered to left field with two outs in the second inning and sophomore Ryan Hayden hit a two-run home run just over the outstretched glove of a leaping Brent Culver over the 390-foot center field fence to account for the three runs Brause allowed in five innings pitched.
"They hit it hard!" said Brause. "That was impressive."
Unfortunately for Hidden Valley, Astoria hit a ball off or over the wall in just about every inning of the game.
Mason Brause, Matt's sophomore younger brother, drove a shot to the opposite field to lead off the second inning. Hidden Valley rightfielder Mike Kirkwood gave chase but met the wall nearly head on as the ball arrived. The wall won. With Kirkwood flat on his stomach and in no hurry to get up, Brause scampered all the way around the bases for an unchallenged inside-the-park home run.
"That guy ran right into the fence," said the sophomore DH. "I thought he was dead for a second. It was pretty funny-looking."
Kirkwood would eventually regain his senses and continue in the game. After the Mustangs' starting pitcher Robert Wardle walked the next Fishermen batter, his day would end. Sophomore Ryan Hayden came out in relief after pitching every Mustang inning in two prior playoff wins. The righthander got out of the second inning jam courtesy of a 5-2-3 double play and worked a scoreless third before getting pounded in the fourth inning.
Ten men came to the plate as the Fishermen hit for the cycle in the frame as Matt Brause plated two runs with a single, Brendan Landwehr hit a towering 3-run home run to left field and Joey Dursse smacked an RBI double. Mason Brause led off the inning with a double and Adam Koehnke tripled and scored as Astoria pulled in front 11-3.
Matt Brause continued a playoff tear with four hits, a pair of doubles and four runs batted in. Brent Culver went 4-for-6 on the day with three runs scored. Tom Jaworski reached base five times, scoring three runs while going 1-for-2 at the plate with three walks and six Fishermen had two hits or more in the game.
Hidden Valley's Linn-Benton bound centerfielder Stuart went 3-for-3 on the day and had a fine running catch at the warning track to prevent Culver from recording his fifth hit and second extra base hit of the day. The Mustangs had ten hits off three different Astoria pitchers.
"I thought they were a very good hitting ballclub," said Gasser. "The score indicates we dominated them, but I'll tell you what. For a long time, if we didn't have the state's best pitcher out there, how many runs are they capable of getting? Easily a dozen. A couple of high fly balls went out of the park against Matt, but otherwise I thought he was way good enough to hold them to three."
"They way we swung the bat, nobody was going to beat us today."
Astoria extended its school-record and state-leading winning streak to 25 games and with a win at La Grande on Tuesday would set new school marks for season wins and winning percentage. Brause has now won 36 consecutive decisions on the mound, including last summer's Oregon Junior Baseball schedule and has 39 wins in his last 40 decisions going back to the previous summer. Brause's last loss in the spring came at Scappoose in the final regular season game of the 2005 season.
ASTORIA 4-1-0-6-2-4-0 17-18-0
HIDDEN VALLEY 0-1-0-2-0-0-1 4-10-4
W-Brause (5ip, 6h, 3r, 3er, 6k, 2bb)
L-Wardle (1+ip, 4h, 5r, 3er, bb, wp)
E-Lord 3, Aamatti. LOB-Astoria 11, HV 6. 2B-Culver, Matt Brause 2, Koehnke, Dursse, Mason Brause. 3B-Koehnke. HR-Mason Brause (2), Landwehr (6). SB-Koehnke. CS-Poyer, Shahan. SF-Poyer. PB-Sager.
A stiff breeze blowing out to left field at Astoria's cozy Aiken Field, or the warmer climate and higher elevation of Grant Pass' Nuggets Field, where the ball carries very well indeed. Where would you rather hit a baseball?
The Astoria Fishermen don't seem to be too particular, as they've now won at home and on the road in the playoffs and will hit the highway again in search of their 26th consecutive victory and a trip to the state championship.
Astoria crushed the ball on Friday, with 18 hits, nine for extra bases, in a 17-4 mauling of Hidden Valley in Grants Pass. The Fishermen will have to win three straight games on the road in order to clinch their second consecutive state championship, as they head to Optimist Field in La Grande to take on the Greater Oregon League champion Tigers on Tuesday.
Sixth-ranked La Grande defeated Marist 4-1 in Friday's quarterfinals. Also advancing were top-ranked Newport and third-ranked Henley, both winning in similarly easy fashion with routs over Yamhill-Carlton (26-4) and Brookings-Harbor (18-2) respectively.
It was apparent from the first fair ball hit on Friday that it would be a hitter's day in Grants Pass. Brent Culver hit a fairly deep fly ball that just kept going...and going. Culver reached second on the first of six doubles by Astoria hitters, scoring on a ground out by Tom Jaworski. Matt Brause followed with another double, advanced on an errors and crossed the plate on a Jordan Poyer sacrifice fly to center field. Adam Koehnke polished off a 4-run Astoria first inning with the third double of the day, later scoring on a straight steal of home.
"We showed up in the morning and made the astute assumption that nothing was going to travel," said Astoria head coach Dave Gasser, who improved to 50-7 with the Fishermen and recorded win number 586 of his career, five short of all-time leader Art Thunell of Grant Union. "because it wasn't traveling anywhere. We show up later and its drier, the wind is blowing out and everything is carrying like a son-of-a-gun. It was a good day to be a hitter."
With a 4-run lead and many more to come, Fishermen fans have become accustomed to resting easy with ace pitcher Brause on the mound. Brause (11-0), the reigning 3A State Player of the Year, improved his 2-year record to 27-0 with Friday's win. Although the unbeaten righthander pitched well on Friday, Hidden Valley's lineup proved to be plenty formidable.
"The ball carried really well there," said Brause. "We probably peppered about six of them off the fence. They put two over. I would like to say those wouldn't have gone out if they didn't carry, but they were shots!"
Hidden Valley's Matt Stuart homered to left field with two outs in the second inning and sophomore Ryan Hayden hit a two-run home run just over the outstretched glove of a leaping Brent Culver over the 390-foot center field fence to account for the three runs Brause allowed in five innings pitched.
"They hit it hard!" said Brause. "That was impressive."
Unfortunately for Hidden Valley, Astoria hit a ball off or over the wall in just about every inning of the game.
Mason Brause, Matt's sophomore younger brother, drove a shot to the opposite field to lead off the second inning. Hidden Valley rightfielder Mike Kirkwood gave chase but met the wall nearly head on as the ball arrived. The wall won. With Kirkwood flat on his stomach and in no hurry to get up, Brause scampered all the way around the bases for an unchallenged inside-the-park home run.
"That guy ran right into the fence," said the sophomore DH. "I thought he was dead for a second. It was pretty funny-looking."
Kirkwood would eventually regain his senses and continue in the game. After the Mustangs' starting pitcher Robert Wardle walked the next Fishermen batter, his day would end. Sophomore Ryan Hayden came out in relief after pitching every Mustang inning in two prior playoff wins. The righthander got out of the second inning jam courtesy of a 5-2-3 double play and worked a scoreless third before getting pounded in the fourth inning.
Ten men came to the plate as the Fishermen hit for the cycle in the frame as Matt Brause plated two runs with a single, Brendan Landwehr hit a towering 3-run home run to left field and Joey Dursse smacked an RBI double. Mason Brause led off the inning with a double and Adam Koehnke tripled and scored as Astoria pulled in front 11-3.
Matt Brause continued a playoff tear with four hits, a pair of doubles and four runs batted in. Brent Culver went 4-for-6 on the day with three runs scored. Tom Jaworski reached base five times, scoring three runs while going 1-for-2 at the plate with three walks and six Fishermen had two hits or more in the game.
Hidden Valley's Linn-Benton bound centerfielder Stuart went 3-for-3 on the day and had a fine running catch at the warning track to prevent Culver from recording his fifth hit and second extra base hit of the day. The Mustangs had ten hits off three different Astoria pitchers.
"I thought they were a very good hitting ballclub," said Gasser. "The score indicates we dominated them, but I'll tell you what. For a long time, if we didn't have the state's best pitcher out there, how many runs are they capable of getting? Easily a dozen. A couple of high fly balls went out of the park against Matt, but otherwise I thought he was way good enough to hold them to three."
"They way we swung the bat, nobody was going to beat us today."
Astoria extended its school-record and state-leading winning streak to 25 games and with a win at La Grande on Tuesday would set new school marks for season wins and winning percentage. Brause has now won 36 consecutive decisions on the mound, including last summer's Oregon Junior Baseball schedule and has 39 wins in his last 40 decisions going back to the previous summer. Brause's last loss in the spring came at Scappoose in the final regular season game of the 2005 season.
ASTORIA 4-1-0-6-2-4-0 17-18-0
HIDDEN VALLEY 0-1-0-2-0-0-1 4-10-4
W-Brause (5ip, 6h, 3r, 3er, 6k, 2bb)
L-Wardle (1+ip, 4h, 5r, 3er, bb, wp)
E-Lord 3, Aamatti. LOB-Astoria 11, HV 6. 2B-Culver, Matt Brause 2, Koehnke, Dursse, Mason Brause. 3B-Koehnke. HR-Mason Brause (2), Landwehr (6). SB-Koehnke. CS-Poyer, Shahan. SF-Poyer. PB-Sager.
posted by Matt Richert at 4:33 PM
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