The Dalles senior Riley Brock (20) circles second base on a line drive.
Mark B. Gibson photo
The No. 7-ranked The Dalles High Riverhawks got off to a good start in their first postseason appearance in 10 years, as they won, 7-3, over the No. 9-ranked Stayton High Eagles (16-9) in an OSAA Class 4A baseball first round state playoff game May 23 at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.
The win advanced the Riverhawks (18-10) into a May 26 quarterfinal match up at No. 2-ranked Gladstone (23-4). The Riverhawks played well, but lost, 4-0, to the Gladiators at Gladstone High School. The shutout was the first one this year for the Riverhawks and it was their fourth loss this season to Gladstone, which advanced to play in the May 30 semifinals at home versus Pendleton (21-8).
In a rematch of a non-league contest May 16 (a 3-2 Stayton win), the Riverhawks trailed Stayton 1-0 in the first inning, but they came back and knotted it 1-1 in the third. Following two scoreless frames, the Eagles regained the lead for the second time with a run in the top of the sixth. The Riverhawks, guided by first-year Coach Pat Clark and assistant Coach Ed Ortega, responded to the challenge by scoring six runs in the bottom half of the frame to take control of the contest. The Eagles scored a run in the top of the seventh for the final, 7-3, margin.
“I could not be more proud of the guys,” said Clark. “We knew coming in that playoff baseball would be a dogfight and we would have to stay in it all seven innings and that’s exactly what they did. We faced a little adversity when we fell behind early in the game and then we got down again later, too. We executed when we had to, and we had a big sixth inning and Cooper Klindt had a huge hit that helped spark our offense.
“We competed and that’s the biggest thing that they’ve learned this year is how to compete in close games. They didn’t give up; they fought back and they wanted to win and we got it.”
Klindt (1-for-3) ignited a rally with his triple to deep center field, driving home Braden Schwartz (2-for-4, RBI), who reached base on an error and Will Booth (walk). Manatu Crichton-Tunai (1-for-1), Riley Brock (2-for-3) and Nolan Donivan also had RBIs in the rally to help contribute to the Riverhawks’ offense.
“I was pumped about that hit and after I got it, I wasn’t sure how far it would go, but it really went a long way,” said Klindt. “It was definitely one of the biggest hits of the season for me. When I got to third base and drove in two runs, it was the happiest moment of my life. I’m just so glad to be a part of this team … moments like these are what I live for. We’ve definitely set some history; it was so much fun, and it was one of the best baseball games of my career.”
Brock (nine strikeouts) and Schwartz combined for a solid performance on the mound with a three-hitter — with 12 strikeouts, two walks and just one earned run allowed.
“This was our first home playoff game in a long time,” said Brock, one of five seniors who played the final home game of their career. “I felt happy that I could help keep it close enough for us to come back and win it. I’m super happy that we got the win. I knew we would get going well with our bats because that’s what we always do towards the end of games.”
The game versus Stayton was the first playoff game since May 22, 2013, when The Dalles lost a Class 5A first round contest at home, 2-1, to Corvallis.
In the fourth match up this year against Gladstone, the Riverhawks were unable to get into any kind of offensive rhythm as they had just three hits. Donivan (1-for-2, single), Braden Schwartz (1-for-3, single) and Avery Schwartz (1-for-1, double) had the Riverhawk hits.
Gladstone jumped in front with a 3-0 first-inning lead and then extended it to 4-0 in the third, which was followed by four scoreless frames. Gladstone outhit The Dalles, 10-3.
“We had a good season and Pat spearheaded things, and he got the kids to want to be here and have fun,” said Ed Ortega. “Pat and Bailey Ortega (assistant coach) really did a good job of working hard to get everyone to buy into the philosophy of having a good experience and helping them focus on playing and competing well. We played pretty good baseball the last couple of weeks.
“It was a tough loss, especially for the seniors, because they’ve put in a lot of effort all season and they were the ones that lost a whole year because of COVID,” said Ortega. “To go through a couple of seasons that we didn’t have a whole lot of success and then come back and have the season that they did with this group was pretty good for them and we’re (coaching staff) all so proud of them.”
The Riverhawk trio of pitchers Crichton-Tunai, Booth and Braden Schwartz combined for eight strikeouts and three walks.
The contest marked the final game of the The Dalles High School careers of seniors Braden Schwartz, Crichton-Tunai, Brock and Diego Gonzalez.
“The seniors came out and they competed well, and they worked hard during the offseason to get better,” said Ortega. “We had a pretty good summer season last year with lots of success and everyone really had a little different mindset coming into this season and they were all enjoying baseball again and they wanted to win.”
Nine Riverhawk players were selected for Tri Valley Conference all-league awards. Brock earned a first team pitcher all league award. Braden Schwartz and Donivan both earned a first team infield all league award. Gonzalez and Booth earned first team, all-league outfield awards. Klindt and Cody Agidius both earned first team utility all league awards. Nathan Hedges and Crichton-Tunai earned honorable mention awards.
