Roseburg unbeaten
Docs top Kelso 8-4, now 3-0 in tourney
Even in the winner’s bracket of a double-elimination tournament, pitching can become depleted in a hurry and young guns can be asked to grow up in a hurry.
That was the case Saturday night, when Roseburg (Ore.) coach Scott Shaver turned to Jared Priestly, who just turned 16 last month, to pitch what he considered to be the most important game of the Northwest Regional American Legion baseball tournament at Gonzaga University’s Washington Trust Field.
And Priestly rewarded Shaver’s show of confidence by delivering seven solid innings as the Docs turned back Kelso 8-4 to become the only remaining unbeaten team in the tournament.
“The third game is the most critical to win,” Shaver said. “The first two are beautiful, but you’re building to that third game, and you need to be able to come and get it. I threw a young man (Priestly) in that third game and put a lot of pressure on him, and he came through.
“That was huge.”
Priestly scattered 10 hits during his seven-inning stint, but struck out four and allowed only one walk. He was staked to a 5-3 lead when the Docs scored twice in the top of the seventh inning, and Kelso never caught up.
The win moved Roseburg (31-13) into today’s 4:30 matchup against Missoula (66-10), which thumped Boise 11-0 in the first of two loser-out games on Saturday. Kelso (36-21) will take on Wausau (32-18), a 7-5 winner of Cheyenne in Saturday’s other loser-out game, at 1 p.m. this afternoon, with the loser being eliminated.
The stadium will be cleared between the two games.
Roseburg, after falling behind 3-2 after four innings, tied the game in the sixth on a one-out single by Vince Ampi that plated Cameron Newell, and then took the lead for good in the seventh, scoring twice on a Johnny Farrington’s double, a pair of walks and Mitch Huff’s one-out single to center.
The Docs, who added three more insurance runs in the ninth – all of which were unearned, due to a pair of errors by Kelso shortstop Cody Erdman – had a chance to do more damage back in the sixth, but saw their rally snuffed out when Austin Stone’s two-out line drive up the middle, with two men on, deflected off the glove of the pitcher to Erdman, who made a sensational scoop and throw to nip Stone at first.
Wausau 7, Cheyenne 5: Wausau starter and winner Ryan Zweck gave up 14 hits and walked four in 8 2/3 innings of work, but did a masterful job of controlling the damage, and teammate Mike Parman continued his torrid hitting as the Bulldogs outlasted Cheyenne to keep its tournament hopes alive.