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Hunter promoted to head coach of GFU baseball
team
Newberg opens state tourney with pair of
victories
Sharks take home third from Ted Walker
Invitational
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Struggling Tigers end season with 7-5 loss to Century |
The Tigers can't overtake the Jaguars in the final
inning Wednesday |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
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Frank Baumholtz probably couldn’t have
said it any better.
The coach of the Abby’s American Legion AAA baseball team was
having a hard times coming to grips with Wednesday’s 7-5 home loss
to Century.
The game ended the season for the Tigers, a squad that had just
defeated Century 7-6 Monday in extra innings Monday.
“It’s too bad,” Baumholtz said. “It’s a bitter taste in the mouth to
finish this way.”
Abby’s
took an early lead in the second inning when Matt Twenge scored off
an error before the Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the third thanks to an
RBI double by Brett Case.
Century battled back when Cody Butcher hit a home run off Abby’s
pitcher Trent Boston in the fourth and later tied the game due to an
Abby’s error.
With the game tied 2-2, Abby’s used an RBI double by Twenge and an
RBI single by Mitchell Sturdevant to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead.
Century battled back again in the sixth inning and scored three
runs, highlighted by a two-RBI single by Josh Garcia. The Jaguars
padded their lead with two more runs in the seventh with a Casey
Miller RBI single and a run-scoring wild pitch by Boston.
Abby’s began the final inning down 7-4 and appeared to be in the
midst of a comeback, much like it did Monday when it scored the
game-tying run in the seventh before it went on to win in the
eighth. Boston doubled to left field to lead the inning off before
Twenge hit an RBI single to left field. Nick Reynolds followed with
an infield single, but Linden Fisher flied out to center field to
end, not only the game, but the season for the Tigers.
Baumholtz said the comeback in the final inning was something
Abby’s has done all summer. This time, however, it wasn’t enough.
“We’ve played well, we’ve pitched really well and we’ve hit the
ball and always have a chance to win which is a great part of the
game,” he said. “We had our opportunities, both offensively and
defensively, but that’s the way the ball rolls sometimes.”
Century seemed to be a team that lacked any true upper-level high
school player, making it a mystery how the Jaguars were not only
able to compete with Abby’s, but score a win.
“The thing with them is that they competed. They never gave up,”
Baumholtz said. “ ... but baseball is a funny game. You can play
anybody on any given day and it doesn’t matter if you’re the first
place or the last place team because anyone can beat anyone. They
out-hit us and had fewer errors than we did and that was an
unfortunate time to have a game like that, but you’ve got to tip
your hat to them because they did what they were supposed to do.”
The Tigers finished 17-15 this season, the first time in
Baumholtz’s four-year tenure the summer program has fielded a
winning record.
“There were a lot of bright spots,” Baumholtz said. “We had some
guys who got extremely better.”
Baumholtz said he’s looking forward to working with the returning
position players, along with the core pitching staff of Boston,
Fisher and Sturdevant who all will return for their senior seasons
at Newberg High School this fall.
“Things look pretty promising for next year,” Baumholtz said. “The
things we have to do are in the offseason. Guys have to continue to
buy into the weight room and get bigger and stronger because
everybody else is working and doing that.” |
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From
July 21, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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