LA GRANDE CATCHES STREAKING FISHERMEN
Just one hit, just one defensive play, just one pitch. Pick any one, pick any player and that could be the difference between the Astoria Fishermen going for a second straight championship and La Grande playing for its first state baseball title.
The Tigers defeated the Fishermen 4-3 in a semifinal nailbiter at Optimist Memorial Field Tuesday afternoon and now will head to Salem to take on the top-ranked Newport Cubs for the 4A State Championship on Saturday.
The Tigers took a 4-0 lead by scoring a pair of runs in the first inning and two more in the third, holding off repeated Astoria challenges throughout the game.
"We got on Brause early," said third-year La Grande head coach Mark Lanman, a lifelong La Grande resident. "He just wasn't settled in. Once he got settled in, we didn't do anything."
The Fishermen scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but left potential big innings hanging throughout the game, stranding seven runners in scoring position as their 25-game winning streak came to a disappointing end.
"You've just got to give credit for them being able to smack us in the nose early and be really aggressive early and to make pitches and make the plays necessary to keep us from coming back," said Astoria's Hall of Fame head coach Dave Gasser, who took over the Fishermen program last year after retiring from Lakeridge in 2002 and has guided Astoria to 50 wins in two seasons. "I just see that as a really good performace by La Grande. They pitched well, they played well."
Mathias Brause's two year winning streak also ended, as the senior righthander suffered a complete game loss to finish the season 11-1 and end his varsity career with a school-record 34 wins with just four defeats, three coming in his sophomore season. Brause, who had won 27 consecutive spring decisions, allowed just five singles over six innings, but two walks and a hit batter in the early innings came around to score.
"I'm as proud of him in a loss just competing," said Gasser. "That's his second start after 6-and-a-half hour bus rides and staying in a room with four kids. If he doesn't have his A game, I'll take his B game any day of the week."
Landon Weaver picked up the win for La Grande, allowing a single unearned run over 4 1/3 innings pitched. Freshman Zach Nice threw 2 2/3 innings of impressive relief, showcasing his near-90 mile per hour fastball with six strikeouts to earn the save. Nice came on with the tying runs in scoring position in the fifth inning and struck out Brendan Landwehr and Jordan Poyer back-to-back to end the threat. Landwehr and Poyer had a combined 14 home runs and 70 runs batted in this year for Astoria.
"Upper-80's fastballs a little up in the zone," said Gasser. "Not too high not to be strikes. Those are really good pitches. How many times have we seen 86-to-88? Once. If you've got guys who can make those pitches, then you can win a game against a team as good as us. "
The Fishermen left the bases loaded in the fourth inning, when Poyer knocked in their first run of the game with a base hit to left field to score Tom Jaworski. After Adam Koehnke walked to load the bases with one out, Joey Dursse hit a foul pop behind the plate. All-state catcher Jordan Lanman made a leaping catch against the backstop for the second out of the inning, before Weaver retired Mason Brause on a fly ball to right field.
Jaworski knocked in Astoria's second run with an RBI single in the fifth inning, scoring Hans Lund, who had reached on a throwing error by La Grande junior shortstop Anthony Nice. Matt Brause followed with a hard single to center field and Jaworski bolted for third when Jacob Johnston bobbled the ball. That would end Weaver's start as the Tigers turned to the freshman Nice, who picked up their quarterfinal win with a strong 5-inning stint at Marist. Featuring primarily high heat, Nice blew away Landwehr and Poyer, then repeated the feat in the seventh inning to close out the game, but not before Astoria had one more golden opportunity to tie the game.
"Zach is just unbelieveable," said Lanman. "For just 15-years-old or whatever he is, he is going to be a good one. He's kind of like the Poyer kid. Just extremely talented and doesn't mind big situations."
With one out in the sixth, Nice hit Joey Dursse with a pitch, then walked Mason Brause, with Dursse sprinting to third base on a wild pitch. With the tying runs on first and third with one out, Nice fanned Lund on a 3-2 fastball, but Brent Culver followed with a 2-out, bloop double just inside the right field line to score Dursse, sending Brause to third base representing the tying run. Jaworski, who had reached base eight consecutive times, flew out to right field to end the inning and the Fishermen went down quietly in the seventh as the La Grande dugout spilled out onto the field in celebration of the team's first championship game appearance.
Freshman pitchers with the kind of velocity that Nice showcased on Tuesday are rare indeed.
"I had a ninth grader that did that," said Gasser, referring to former Madison standout Kent Bottenfield. "He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and had a shutout inning in the All-Star game. That's how rare that is."
Nice also contributed a run batted in for the Tigers, plating Lanman with a fielder's choice in the first inning, following Johnston's RBI single. The Tigers' centerfielder, who has 7 RBI in the playoffs, also made a huge defensive play in the second inning. After Adam Koehnke smoked a 1-out triple to the 386-foot wall in right center field, Dursse hit a fly ball to Johnston in center, who fired a perfect strike to Lanman at the plate for an inning-ending double play as the speedy Koehnke tried to score.
Lanman ripped Brause's first pitch of the third inning up the middle for a single. Brause's next pitch hit Weaver in the ribs. After Lanman hustled to third on a Johnston fly ball to right, the two players pulled off a double steal with Lanman sprinting home with the third run of the game while Weavers slid in safely at second, beating Landwehr's low throw. Cody McKague added a clutch 2-out RBI single just off the glove of a diving Brent Culver in center to score what turned out to be the game-winning run.
"We were looking for a fastball early in the count," said Lanman, "because last year if I remember right he threw a lot of first-pitch fastballs to us and we weren't looking for that."
"We just told them to look for that good fastball, because we couldn't hit that junk he was throwing."
La Grande did not hit the ball out of the infield after the third inning, as Brause retired the final eight batters in a row on four strikeouts, three ground outs and a soft liner. The senior ace struck out seven and walked four, allowing four earned runs, the most he has allowed in a game all season.
The Fishermen outhit La Grande 6-to-5, had two extra base hits to none for the Tigers and committed no errors in the game, while the Tigers booted two balls. Walks and hit batters were dead even for both teams. Astoria had 13 at bats with runners in scoring position and came away with just three hits, while La Grande was 3-for-9 in similar situations. The Fishermen also failed twice to execute a sacrifice bunt and another attempted bunt base hit went right back to the mound for an easy out.
The loss ended the careers of Astoria seniors Brause, Culver, Landwehr, Dursse, Koehnke, Nick Bredleau and Gabe Davis. Brause and Landwehr have committed to play at Clackamas College next year, while Dursse and Bredleau plan to walk on to the Oregon City school in the hopes of making the team. Davis has signed on to play soccer down the road from La Grande at Treasure Valley Community College. Most, if not all of Astoria's seniors will play on the Astoria Ford Legion A team this summer and some will also play for the Renegades.
"I just told our seniors that, as corny as it sounds, I love every one of them," said Gasser. "And I mean it. They completely put us on the map."
"We had won ten straight state playoff games in the summer and the spring. They were 10-1 in state playoff games. Our loss is at La Grande 4-3. If that isn't setting an amazing bar and completely changing the whole landscape of Astoria baseball then nothing is. This is as successful a group of athletes as I've ever been around."
The Fishermen matched last season's record of 25 wins and four losses, while La Grande improved to 24-5 with their third straight close playoff win.
ASTORIA 0-0-0-1-1-1-0 3-6-0
LA GRANDE 2-0-2-0-0-0-x 4-5-2
W-Weaver (4.1ip, 5h, r, 0er, k, 3bb)
L-Brause (6ip, 5h, 4er, 7k, 4bb, hp)
S-Z. Nice (2.2 ip, h, r, er, 6k, bb, hp)
E-A. Nice, Johnston. LOB-Astoria 8, La Grande 6. 2B-Culver. 3B-Koehnke. SB-Lanman, Weaver 2. DP-La Grande 1.
The Tigers defeated the Fishermen 4-3 in a semifinal nailbiter at Optimist Memorial Field Tuesday afternoon and now will head to Salem to take on the top-ranked Newport Cubs for the 4A State Championship on Saturday.
The Tigers took a 4-0 lead by scoring a pair of runs in the first inning and two more in the third, holding off repeated Astoria challenges throughout the game.
"We got on Brause early," said third-year La Grande head coach Mark Lanman, a lifelong La Grande resident. "He just wasn't settled in. Once he got settled in, we didn't do anything."
The Fishermen scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but left potential big innings hanging throughout the game, stranding seven runners in scoring position as their 25-game winning streak came to a disappointing end.
"You've just got to give credit for them being able to smack us in the nose early and be really aggressive early and to make pitches and make the plays necessary to keep us from coming back," said Astoria's Hall of Fame head coach Dave Gasser, who took over the Fishermen program last year after retiring from Lakeridge in 2002 and has guided Astoria to 50 wins in two seasons. "I just see that as a really good performace by La Grande. They pitched well, they played well."
Mathias Brause's two year winning streak also ended, as the senior righthander suffered a complete game loss to finish the season 11-1 and end his varsity career with a school-record 34 wins with just four defeats, three coming in his sophomore season. Brause, who had won 27 consecutive spring decisions, allowed just five singles over six innings, but two walks and a hit batter in the early innings came around to score.
"I'm as proud of him in a loss just competing," said Gasser. "That's his second start after 6-and-a-half hour bus rides and staying in a room with four kids. If he doesn't have his A game, I'll take his B game any day of the week."
Landon Weaver picked up the win for La Grande, allowing a single unearned run over 4 1/3 innings pitched. Freshman Zach Nice threw 2 2/3 innings of impressive relief, showcasing his near-90 mile per hour fastball with six strikeouts to earn the save. Nice came on with the tying runs in scoring position in the fifth inning and struck out Brendan Landwehr and Jordan Poyer back-to-back to end the threat. Landwehr and Poyer had a combined 14 home runs and 70 runs batted in this year for Astoria.
"Upper-80's fastballs a little up in the zone," said Gasser. "Not too high not to be strikes. Those are really good pitches. How many times have we seen 86-to-88? Once. If you've got guys who can make those pitches, then you can win a game against a team as good as us. "
The Fishermen left the bases loaded in the fourth inning, when Poyer knocked in their first run of the game with a base hit to left field to score Tom Jaworski. After Adam Koehnke walked to load the bases with one out, Joey Dursse hit a foul pop behind the plate. All-state catcher Jordan Lanman made a leaping catch against the backstop for the second out of the inning, before Weaver retired Mason Brause on a fly ball to right field.
Jaworski knocked in Astoria's second run with an RBI single in the fifth inning, scoring Hans Lund, who had reached on a throwing error by La Grande junior shortstop Anthony Nice. Matt Brause followed with a hard single to center field and Jaworski bolted for third when Jacob Johnston bobbled the ball. That would end Weaver's start as the Tigers turned to the freshman Nice, who picked up their quarterfinal win with a strong 5-inning stint at Marist. Featuring primarily high heat, Nice blew away Landwehr and Poyer, then repeated the feat in the seventh inning to close out the game, but not before Astoria had one more golden opportunity to tie the game.
"Zach is just unbelieveable," said Lanman. "For just 15-years-old or whatever he is, he is going to be a good one. He's kind of like the Poyer kid. Just extremely talented and doesn't mind big situations."
With one out in the sixth, Nice hit Joey Dursse with a pitch, then walked Mason Brause, with Dursse sprinting to third base on a wild pitch. With the tying runs on first and third with one out, Nice fanned Lund on a 3-2 fastball, but Brent Culver followed with a 2-out, bloop double just inside the right field line to score Dursse, sending Brause to third base representing the tying run. Jaworski, who had reached base eight consecutive times, flew out to right field to end the inning and the Fishermen went down quietly in the seventh as the La Grande dugout spilled out onto the field in celebration of the team's first championship game appearance.
Freshman pitchers with the kind of velocity that Nice showcased on Tuesday are rare indeed.
"I had a ninth grader that did that," said Gasser, referring to former Madison standout Kent Bottenfield. "He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and had a shutout inning in the All-Star game. That's how rare that is."
Nice also contributed a run batted in for the Tigers, plating Lanman with a fielder's choice in the first inning, following Johnston's RBI single. The Tigers' centerfielder, who has 7 RBI in the playoffs, also made a huge defensive play in the second inning. After Adam Koehnke smoked a 1-out triple to the 386-foot wall in right center field, Dursse hit a fly ball to Johnston in center, who fired a perfect strike to Lanman at the plate for an inning-ending double play as the speedy Koehnke tried to score.
Lanman ripped Brause's first pitch of the third inning up the middle for a single. Brause's next pitch hit Weaver in the ribs. After Lanman hustled to third on a Johnston fly ball to right, the two players pulled off a double steal with Lanman sprinting home with the third run of the game while Weavers slid in safely at second, beating Landwehr's low throw. Cody McKague added a clutch 2-out RBI single just off the glove of a diving Brent Culver in center to score what turned out to be the game-winning run.
"We were looking for a fastball early in the count," said Lanman, "because last year if I remember right he threw a lot of first-pitch fastballs to us and we weren't looking for that."
"We just told them to look for that good fastball, because we couldn't hit that junk he was throwing."
La Grande did not hit the ball out of the infield after the third inning, as Brause retired the final eight batters in a row on four strikeouts, three ground outs and a soft liner. The senior ace struck out seven and walked four, allowing four earned runs, the most he has allowed in a game all season.
The Fishermen outhit La Grande 6-to-5, had two extra base hits to none for the Tigers and committed no errors in the game, while the Tigers booted two balls. Walks and hit batters were dead even for both teams. Astoria had 13 at bats with runners in scoring position and came away with just three hits, while La Grande was 3-for-9 in similar situations. The Fishermen also failed twice to execute a sacrifice bunt and another attempted bunt base hit went right back to the mound for an easy out.
The loss ended the careers of Astoria seniors Brause, Culver, Landwehr, Dursse, Koehnke, Nick Bredleau and Gabe Davis. Brause and Landwehr have committed to play at Clackamas College next year, while Dursse and Bredleau plan to walk on to the Oregon City school in the hopes of making the team. Davis has signed on to play soccer down the road from La Grande at Treasure Valley Community College. Most, if not all of Astoria's seniors will play on the Astoria Ford Legion A team this summer and some will also play for the Renegades.
"I just told our seniors that, as corny as it sounds, I love every one of them," said Gasser. "And I mean it. They completely put us on the map."
"We had won ten straight state playoff games in the summer and the spring. They were 10-1 in state playoff games. Our loss is at La Grande 4-3. If that isn't setting an amazing bar and completely changing the whole landscape of Astoria baseball then nothing is. This is as successful a group of athletes as I've ever been around."
The Fishermen matched last season's record of 25 wins and four losses, while La Grande improved to 24-5 with their third straight close playoff win.
ASTORIA 0-0-0-1-1-1-0 3-6-0
LA GRANDE 2-0-2-0-0-0-x 4-5-2
W-Weaver (4.1ip, 5h, r, 0er, k, 3bb)
L-Brause (6ip, 5h, 4er, 7k, 4bb, hp)
S-Z. Nice (2.2 ip, h, r, er, 6k, bb, hp)
E-A. Nice, Johnston. LOB-Astoria 8, La Grande 6. 2B-Culver. 3B-Koehnke. SB-Lanman, Weaver 2. DP-La Grande 1.
posted by Matt Richert at 1:28 AM
2 Comments:
Hey Matt,
Just wanted to thank you for all of your support of our boys since you have come to Astoria.
Now that it's over would you give us your take on the flawed bracket. Some think there are too many teams, some like the idea of from quarter finals on all games should be on neutral field so both teams travel,etc.
I don't know about too many teams, but I think a stepladder approach to the state finals that begins with a district playoff would winnow out those weaker #3 seeds. I have criticized the OSAA playoff formats from the moment I set foot in this state as a resident in 1999, but have been told that the current structure is a result of coaches' complaints of losing to the same teams year after year. Now that we have reclassification and a six-class system, some of those "bullied" teams are safe from harm. It's high time to revisit a district playoff prior to state tournament competition (not just for baseball, but all sports) and dispense with the ridiculous travel demands that had Astoria going to Grants Pass and La Grande for consecutive state playoff games. Teams should not have to travel out of their regions to play a single game. They should only travel that far to participate in a tournament format. There is no way that a team should be able to host a state semifinal game and use local referees! Yes, I know that Astoria benefitted from this situation last year against Newport, but it is still just as wrong! From quarterfinals through championship, games should be played at neutral sites with the best available facilities and neutral referees/umpires.
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