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West Albany High advanced to the semifinals of the 5A state baseball tournament with an 8-5 win over visiting Ridgeview on Friday.
The Bulldogs handed the ball to sophomore Drew Rice and he went the distance, giving up seven hits and striking out eight batters to earn the victory.
“It means a lot that my teammates trusted me, and all my coaches, and I know they have my back, provide run support, which definitely helped a lot today,” Rice said.
Rice gave up two runs in the first but his teammates responded and tied the game in the bottom of the inning. The Bulldogs then took control by scoring five runs in the third.
West Albany High sophomore Drew Rice went the distance Friday in the Bulldogs’ 8-5 victory over Ridgeview in the 5A state quarterfinals.
West Albany coach Marty Johnston said the run support helped take some of the pressure off Rice.
“It lets him know he doesn’t have to be so fine. He doesn’t have to make perfect pitches. And just like any pitcher, he’s gonna love crooked numbers up there,” Johnston said.
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With a state semifinal coming up Tuesday, the goal was for Rice to go as long possible and he did just that, ensuring the full staff is available for the matchup against Ashland. The Grizzlies advanced Friday with an 11-1 win over La Salle Prep.
“He’s our number two guy and as long as he had pitches available, we trust him. We trust our defense behind him and we’re going to let him go,” Johnston said.
After Ridgeview scored a run in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit to 7-4, West Albany’s Camden Cyrus tripled to right field and then scored to push the lead back to three runs.
The Ravens attempted to rally in the ninth and pushed one run across before Rice got the final out on a high fly ball.
West Albany last reached the state semifinals in 2019 before being knocked out by Pendleton.
The Bulldogs are the fourth seed in the tournament, but because No. 1 Summit got eliminated, they will host ninth-seeded Ashland on Tuesday. In the other semifinal Tuesday, No. 3 Wilsonville will play at No. 2 Thurston, which shut out Lebanon 4-0 in their quarterfinal matchup.
West Albany 8, Ridgeview 5
Ridgeview 201 100 1 — 5 8 3
West Albany 205 100 X — 8 7 2