PLAYOFF-READY FISHERMEN TOP MARIST
Some key defensive plays, a critical late insurance run and some clutch relief pitching all added up to 23 on Wednesday. Twenty-three victories in a row, that is.
The Astoria Fishermen baseball team will take their school record winning streak into the postseason following a 4-3 victory over the Sky-Em League champion Marist Spartans in a game played at Linfield College's Helser Field.
The Fishermen broke a 1-all tie with a two-out, two run rally in the fifth inning, then added another run with two outs in the sixth inning that proved to be the difference.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Spartans first baseman Grant Mascolo battled Astoria starting pitcher Jordan Poyer for an eight pitch walk. The following batter saw the pitch he wanted right away as senior centerfielder Brooks McKee belted Poyer's first pitch over the wall in left field for a 2-run homer. Freshman designated hitter Zach Brandon followed with a double to the wall in right field and Poyer's night was over.
Enter senior Nick Bredleau in a rare, late-in-game relief appearance.
"I knew that if I kept it low, they're going to hit it," said Bredleau. "They are a good hitting team, but they are not going to hit it that hard and our defense just made plays."
Bredleau threw one pitch to rightfielder Nate Smyly, who hit a soft line drive to Hans Lund at second to end the threat. The senior all-Cowapa League pitcher needed just seven pitches to retire the side in the seventh inning for his first save of the season and second of his career.
"We've talked about it before, going 15-0 in league,"said Bredleau. "We finally made it possible and just kept on winning games."
The Fishermen are now 23-3, a record bested this season by two teams expected to meet in the semifinals: the Newport Cubs (25-1) and the Henley Hornets (22-3). If all goes well for both Astoria and Marist, the Fishermen and Spartans will meet in a rematch in the semis the day after Memorial Day.
Jordan Poyer got the win, improving to 5-0 on the season. The sophomore righthander faced only one significant hurdle before getting knocked out in the sixth. That's when Astoria's defense stepped up to the challenge.
With no score in the bottom of the third inning, Smyly led off with a base hit and Josh Norman followed with a sacrifice bunt to the right of the mound. Poyer fielded the ball quickly, but threw high to first base for an error. Smyly tried to advance to third base, but was gunned down by Lund, who was backing up on the play. The Spartans followed with three consecutive singles to score the first run of the game, but leadoff batter Mike Dickman was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second. A hit batter loaded the bases with two outs before Poyer retired Grant Mascolo on a foul pop to first base. The Spartans put six consecutive runners on base, but only got one run to show for it.
"Just a big time relay play," said Astoria head coach Dave Gasser of the play at the plate, "and then also Hans backing up an overthrow, just anticipating that something might go wrong and making an absolutely perfect throw from real deep, actually. That's probably about 135 feet right on a line. Amazing heads-up play by a guy that's played great second base all year."
"That play right there and then the relay (Adam Koehnke to Joey Dursse to Brendan Landwehr) erases at least two or three runs or we don't win."
Astoria tied the score with a run in the fourth inning when Jordan Poyer doubled and scored on a first and third bunt and run play with Dursse laying down his second perfect sacrifice in as many at bats. Like Marist the inning before, the Fishermen had an opportunity to score more with runners on second and third and nobody out, but courtesy runner Trevor Puckett, a sophomore making his varsity debut, was gunned down at the plate on Adam Koehnke's ground ball to third base.
Earlier in the second inning, Marist starting pitcher Brady Kirkpatrick escaped a second and third, one out jam by throwing out Poyer at home trying to score on a swinging bunt by Mason Brause.
The Fishermen put five consecutive runners on base with two outs in the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead. Tom Jawarski started the rally with a base on balls before Matt Brause ripped a line single up the middle. Brendan Landwehr drew a full count walking bringing Poyer to the plate. The sophomore slugger battled from a 1-2 count to force in the go-ahead run with a walk before Koehnke has hit in the back with the first pitch from Marist starter Brady Kirkpatrick to force in another run. Kirkpatrick fanned Dursse looking at a 2-2 curveball to end the inning.
The Marist freshman hurler was impressive, showcasing above-average velocity, excellent command and a sharp breaking ball, but did not get the benefit of the doubt on a lot of close pitches in the game and appeared to lose his poise slightly in the fifth, taking a long time between pitches after working quickly in the early innings.
Poyer retired eight of the next nine batters after his third inning pickle, while the Spartans went to their Division I closer in the sixth inning. Nick Stiltner, a 2-year all-league catcher, came on firing his trademark 90 mile per hour heat, but the Fishermen weren't ready to leave the kitchen.
Another two out walk got the party started in the sixth, as Brent Culver reached base and stole second. Jaworski followed with a ground ball to the right side just out of the reach of second baseman Ryan Bell as Culver raced home with what turned out to be a huge extra run.
"It ends up being the difference," said Gasser, "off a guy who is pretty much lights out."
Stiltner, who has signed a letter of intent at Oregon State, struck out the side in the seventh inning, but Bredleau was equal to the task, retiring the Marist 9, 1 and 2 hitters in order to close out the game, sending Astoria into the playoffs on a long, sustained winning note.
Kirkpatrick suffered his first loss of the season. Colton Thomas went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Marist.
Poyer went 2-for-3 for Astoria and is now 12 for his last 13 at the plate dating back to last Monday's 21-2 win at Tillamook.
The Fishermen open the playoffs at home Tuesday against Far West League #2 South Umpqua. Marist has a tough opening draw, facing a 20-win Phoenix team. If Astoria advances to the quarterfinals, the Fishermen will either travel to Gladstone or Hidden Valley (north of Grants Pass) or host Philomath.
ASTORIA 0-0-0-1-2-1-0 4-6-1
MARIST 0-0-1-0-0-2-0 3-7-0
W-Poyer (5.2ip, 7h, 3er, 2k, 2bb, hp)
L-Kirkpatrick (5ip, 5h, 3er, 3k, 4bb, hp)
S-Bredleau (1.1ip, 0h, 0r)
E-Poyer. LOB-Astoria 8, Marist 5. 2B-Poyer, Brandon. HR-McKee. SB-Culver. S-Dursse 2, Norman.
The Astoria Fishermen baseball team will take their school record winning streak into the postseason following a 4-3 victory over the Sky-Em League champion Marist Spartans in a game played at Linfield College's Helser Field.
The Fishermen broke a 1-all tie with a two-out, two run rally in the fifth inning, then added another run with two outs in the sixth inning that proved to be the difference.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Spartans first baseman Grant Mascolo battled Astoria starting pitcher Jordan Poyer for an eight pitch walk. The following batter saw the pitch he wanted right away as senior centerfielder Brooks McKee belted Poyer's first pitch over the wall in left field for a 2-run homer. Freshman designated hitter Zach Brandon followed with a double to the wall in right field and Poyer's night was over.
Enter senior Nick Bredleau in a rare, late-in-game relief appearance.
"I knew that if I kept it low, they're going to hit it," said Bredleau. "They are a good hitting team, but they are not going to hit it that hard and our defense just made plays."
Bredleau threw one pitch to rightfielder Nate Smyly, who hit a soft line drive to Hans Lund at second to end the threat. The senior all-Cowapa League pitcher needed just seven pitches to retire the side in the seventh inning for his first save of the season and second of his career.
"We've talked about it before, going 15-0 in league,"said Bredleau. "We finally made it possible and just kept on winning games."
The Fishermen are now 23-3, a record bested this season by two teams expected to meet in the semifinals: the Newport Cubs (25-1) and the Henley Hornets (22-3). If all goes well for both Astoria and Marist, the Fishermen and Spartans will meet in a rematch in the semis the day after Memorial Day.
Jordan Poyer got the win, improving to 5-0 on the season. The sophomore righthander faced only one significant hurdle before getting knocked out in the sixth. That's when Astoria's defense stepped up to the challenge.
With no score in the bottom of the third inning, Smyly led off with a base hit and Josh Norman followed with a sacrifice bunt to the right of the mound. Poyer fielded the ball quickly, but threw high to first base for an error. Smyly tried to advance to third base, but was gunned down by Lund, who was backing up on the play. The Spartans followed with three consecutive singles to score the first run of the game, but leadoff batter Mike Dickman was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second. A hit batter loaded the bases with two outs before Poyer retired Grant Mascolo on a foul pop to first base. The Spartans put six consecutive runners on base, but only got one run to show for it.
"Just a big time relay play," said Astoria head coach Dave Gasser of the play at the plate, "and then also Hans backing up an overthrow, just anticipating that something might go wrong and making an absolutely perfect throw from real deep, actually. That's probably about 135 feet right on a line. Amazing heads-up play by a guy that's played great second base all year."
"That play right there and then the relay (Adam Koehnke to Joey Dursse to Brendan Landwehr) erases at least two or three runs or we don't win."
Astoria tied the score with a run in the fourth inning when Jordan Poyer doubled and scored on a first and third bunt and run play with Dursse laying down his second perfect sacrifice in as many at bats. Like Marist the inning before, the Fishermen had an opportunity to score more with runners on second and third and nobody out, but courtesy runner Trevor Puckett, a sophomore making his varsity debut, was gunned down at the plate on Adam Koehnke's ground ball to third base.
Earlier in the second inning, Marist starting pitcher Brady Kirkpatrick escaped a second and third, one out jam by throwing out Poyer at home trying to score on a swinging bunt by Mason Brause.
The Fishermen put five consecutive runners on base with two outs in the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead. Tom Jawarski started the rally with a base on balls before Matt Brause ripped a line single up the middle. Brendan Landwehr drew a full count walking bringing Poyer to the plate. The sophomore slugger battled from a 1-2 count to force in the go-ahead run with a walk before Koehnke has hit in the back with the first pitch from Marist starter Brady Kirkpatrick to force in another run. Kirkpatrick fanned Dursse looking at a 2-2 curveball to end the inning.
The Marist freshman hurler was impressive, showcasing above-average velocity, excellent command and a sharp breaking ball, but did not get the benefit of the doubt on a lot of close pitches in the game and appeared to lose his poise slightly in the fifth, taking a long time between pitches after working quickly in the early innings.
Poyer retired eight of the next nine batters after his third inning pickle, while the Spartans went to their Division I closer in the sixth inning. Nick Stiltner, a 2-year all-league catcher, came on firing his trademark 90 mile per hour heat, but the Fishermen weren't ready to leave the kitchen.
Another two out walk got the party started in the sixth, as Brent Culver reached base and stole second. Jaworski followed with a ground ball to the right side just out of the reach of second baseman Ryan Bell as Culver raced home with what turned out to be a huge extra run.
"It ends up being the difference," said Gasser, "off a guy who is pretty much lights out."
Stiltner, who has signed a letter of intent at Oregon State, struck out the side in the seventh inning, but Bredleau was equal to the task, retiring the Marist 9, 1 and 2 hitters in order to close out the game, sending Astoria into the playoffs on a long, sustained winning note.
Kirkpatrick suffered his first loss of the season. Colton Thomas went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Marist.
Poyer went 2-for-3 for Astoria and is now 12 for his last 13 at the plate dating back to last Monday's 21-2 win at Tillamook.
The Fishermen open the playoffs at home Tuesday against Far West League #2 South Umpqua. Marist has a tough opening draw, facing a 20-win Phoenix team. If Astoria advances to the quarterfinals, the Fishermen will either travel to Gladstone or Hidden Valley (north of Grants Pass) or host Philomath.
ASTORIA 0-0-0-1-2-1-0 4-6-1
MARIST 0-0-1-0-0-2-0 3-7-0
W-Poyer (5.2ip, 7h, 3er, 2k, 2bb, hp)
L-Kirkpatrick (5ip, 5h, 3er, 3k, 4bb, hp)
S-Bredleau (1.1ip, 0h, 0r)
E-Poyer. LOB-Astoria 8, Marist 5. 2B-Poyer, Brandon. HR-McKee. SB-Culver. S-Dursse 2, Norman.
posted by Matt Richert at 12:38 AM
2 Comments:
Brookings-Harbor High School is also 22-3 and 15-0 in league, just thought you would like to know. Maybe the southern teams dont count?
http://www.oregonprepsports.net/index.php?option=com_results&task=show_schedule_team&sport=baseball&season=2007&teamid=96&Itemid=121
Not sure what your point is. Yeah, they count, but you won't find too many people outside of Brookings that expect them to get past Henley. And last time I checked, 23-3 was a better record than 22-3. Both B-H and Astoria play in weak leagues, but the Fishermen are proven with a state title. B-H has to earn their respect in this tournament. Congratulations to the Bruins if they get there.
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