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Bucks survive first game, beat
Mustangs
Sharks pick up fourth in McMinnville
Salisbury wins two in GFU premiere
Sports Calendar
| Can
they repeat? |
After last season's second-place finish, the question remains about the
NHS baseball team |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic Sports Editor
Email Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
|
 Newberg High School baseball team coach Scott Klug doesn’t feel any
pressure.
The Tigers, who went 7-7 in the Pac-9 Conference and 21-9 overall last
season, are coming off its most successful season in the program’s history. The
Tigers, who qualified as the No. 4 seed from the conference, made it to the Class 4A state
championship game and led 4-0 but saw Southridge come back and rally to win 8-6 in eight
innings. Klug said he isn’t under pressure to repeat last season’s success.
“I’ve been coaching too long to feel pressure to repeat,” he
said. “Pressure is a guy who just got laid off from a job and has kids in college
— that’s pressure. Coming out here and playing baseball isn’t
pressure.”
Klug said last year’s team is a memory he’ll have for a long time.
“I was lucky to have a group of kids like that and you never know if
that will happen again because everything had to fall into place,” he said.
The Tigers managed to get to the playoffs despite having a few players suffer
injuries early in the season. The Tigers started off the preseason 8-1, won a 42-team
tournament in Las Vegas, then hit a slump when they opened conference play. Newberg
suffered four-straight losses but rebounded in the second half of the season to make the
playoffs.
Alex Bailey, who was a second-team pick in the Pac-9 Conference, got hurt in
a game against Forest Grove and was forced to sit out a few games. The second baseman had
been a key to the success of the Tigers the past two seasons.
“Alex Bailey played everywhere for me,” Klug said. “He caught,
he played second, he played (shortstop), he played pitcher — in the summer he played
in the outfield. He played anywhere I asked him to and you just can’t replace a
player like that.”
Sophomore catcher Justin Burger, a Pac-9 first-team pick for the Tigers as a
freshman, also suffered an injury early in the season. The injuries, coupled with the
team’s inconsistent pitching, put the Tigers in danger of missing the playoffs.
But the pitching of senior Tyler Thomas late in the season rescued the
Tigers, Klug said.
“Our pitching wasn’t what it needed to be early ... Tyler
wasn’t as good early as he was late. He basically got us to the state championship
game,” he said. “So we didn’t have that early and we had to try and figure
out who we were.
“Realistically, when we were 8-1, the competition we played wasn’t
as good as it was in our own league. Did we deserve to be ranked No. 1 at that point? Yes
we did. Were we good enough to be No. 1? No we weren’t, but we deserved it and I know
how weird that sounds.”
But the Tigers persevered. Their participation in the state title game gave
not only the players, but Klug as well, memories they won’t forget, he said.
“Those kids last year got me things that I will probably never, ever get
again,” he said. “They got me to a state championship game. There’s some
ungodly number like only 32 percent of all high school baseball coaches get to be in a
state championship game and that might be a high number.”
Klug also coached in the State-Metro all-star series during the summer
because of Newberg’s finish. Klug guided the State team to 3-0 sweep of the Metro
squad, the first time that has happened.
“I played in two state championships and lost them both and I don’t have
as good as memories about those as I do about last year,” he said. “As hard as
it is to lose that game, you develop a bond with kids. Realistically as a baseball player
at Newberg High School, we spend two solid years together in four years of baseball.
Baseball starts in February and doesn’t end until August and so those kids become my
adopted children and we fight like family members and love each other like family members.
There’s not much difference.
“It would be hard for me to tell you that I would trade that team last
year for any team. As hard as it was, as frustrating as losing the state championship game
was, as frustrating going 7-7 was, all of the infighting we had and all sorts of the crazy
things that went on last year, it would be difficult for me to tell you that I
wouldn’t do it again.”
The Tigers lost seven players due to graduation — Bailey (who now plays
at George Fox University and who was a second team Pac-9 selection), first baseman Brent
Brown, infielder Sean McPike, outfielders Tyler Thomas (a second team Pac-9 pick) and
Jared Thomas (a second team Pac-9 selection), Jeff Stewart (a first team Pac-9 selection)
and pitcher Chas Haynie.
The Tigers, however, have a strong nucleus returning. Senior Dallas Buck was
a second team conference pick as a pitcher last season. He went 2-3 and had an ERA of
0.48. He led the team in innings pitched (30.66), batters faced (131) and was second on
the team in strikeouts (39). He started five games on the mound for NHS and went the
distance in four games, while he threw a shutout. He walked 15 batters, allowed 16 hits
and averaged nearly nine strikeouts per game. At the plate, Buck hit .273 for the Tigers
to go along with six singles, a double and a pair of home runs.
Senior center fielder Derek Engelke hit .300 for the Tigers with eight
singles and a double to go along with five RBI. Burger returns for the Tigers, as well.
Third baseman Brent Basaites and right fielder Zach Reinhardt complete the main core of
returners for Newberg.
Klug said the Tigers came off a good summer where several inexperienced
players got the opportunity to prove themselves.
“I got a lot of guys playing time and I learned a lot about the guys,
but it still comes down to how they play when it matters,” he said. “Preseason
games only matter statistically and that’s what basically determines my lineup when
league starts.”
One of the other determining factors in the season is Buck. His fastball and
slider pitches are the best in the league, the coach said. When he’s not pitching,
Buck is one of the best shortstops in the conference, he added.
“(However) our season doesn’t depend on Dallas Buck,” Klug
said. “When Dallas pitches, we have a chance to beat anybody. Our season depends on
who plays defense behind him. Our season also depends on who our No. 2 pitcher is.”
That No. 2 pitcher, Klug said, should be senior left-hander Justin Guedon.
“But to get through the season, we have to have a No. 3, 4, 5 guy and
those spots are kind of up for grabs,” Klug said. “We’ve
got one guy who’s not eligible, one guy who’s not proven and one guy who’s
inconsistent. But realistically with Dallas and Justin pitching, we’re as good as
anybody if Justin pitches like he can. After that is when we’ll find out what
we’ve got like when Dallas can’t go seven innings or Justin can’t go seven
innings. What comes next? That’s what it comes down to.”
One of those pitchers could be Engelke. By necessity, Klug might have to use
the left-handed center fielder as a pitcher.
“If I had a choice, I would never take Derek out of center field, but he
may have to pitch occasionally, so he’s throwing workouts and he’s got a good
arm,” he said. “But he’s the best outfield I’ve ever coached, by
far.”
Klug said the first two weeks of practice have been going well.
“This is, by far, the most fun I’ve had the first two weeks of
practice since I’ve been here,” he said. “These kids work hard, they have
fun, they make me laugh, they’re inquisitive, they’re hungry, they’re
coachable. I could name a ton of adjectives.”
A big reason Klug is having more fun is that he’s able to do more
coaching.
“It’s more fun because I’ve got less guys who have on-field
experience,” he said. “Last year’s team, those guys had played tons of
baseball. This year, we’ve got a lot of guys who have to find their niche.”
The situation is a double-edged sword of sorts. Last season, Klug knew the
squad had the talent to do it. This year, the majority of the lineup is unproven but the
opportunity exists for Klug and his coaching staff to mold players.
“One of the things that’s frustrating when you’re 7-7 with the
team we had last year was that as a coach, with those guys and all of their experience,
you’re helpless,” he said. “If you’re 7-7 with these guys, you might
be coach of the year because you’re working hard and you’re teaching. You can
see what needs to be fixed.
“Last year, what needed to be fixed wasn’t anything tangible. It
was just that something else had to be done and those guys rose to the occasion. This
year, it’s tangible ... there’s stuff to coach.”
One of those things to coach is the infield. Klug said a full-time second
baseman hasn’t emerged yet and a shortstop to take over for Buck when he pitches
hasn’t come to the foreground either.
As always, the fight for the four playoff spots from the conference will be a
hotly contested battle. Klug said Canby, as always, should be a contender, along with
McMinnville. Woodburn, which will play a Pac-9 schedule this season, is a question mark
while Silverton and Dallas probably will be near the bottom of the standings.
“I expect McMinnville to be very good,” he said. “They had a
great summer and they’ve got some really good arms. I expect Canby to be pretty good
and the rest of the typical guys — Forest Grove, Tualatin, us, Canby, Tigard and
McMinnville — to be really fighting for things.
“It’s going to be a dogfight for those four (playoff) spots.
It’s going to come down to who gets on a roll at the right time. We got lucky with
some guys losing and us winning (last season) and then we got on a roll.” |
|
From March 8,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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