 |
Tigers make
it two in a row, drill Hillsboro 6-1
Cavs break
GFU's four-game win streak
Newberg boys
nearly knock off Warriors
Gayman earns
all-region accolades
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Inconsistent Tigers fall to 0-3 |
Newberg has given up 32 runs in its first three
games after losses to Beaverton and Lakeridge |
By B. Scott
Anderson, Newberg Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at
banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
|
If Frank Baumholtz wanted a tough
preseason schedule for his baseball team, he got one.
Prior to the season, the Newberg High School coach wanted a
preseason filled with quality opponents. If the first three games,
all lopsided losses, are any indication, he may have gotten more
than he bargained for.
“I think the biggest thing is that we’re very inconsistent and our
approach offensively is lacking a few pieces,” Baumholtz said. “The
good thing is that the things we are lacking (are) visible against
good baseball teams.”
After Monday’s 9-1 loss at No. 1-ranked Lake Oswego, the opposition
was only slightly easier for Newberg. The Tigers took on No.
3-ranked Beaverton in their home-opener and struggled throughout the
9-0 loss. On Thursday, the Tigers fell to a perennially powerful,
albeit unranked, Lakeridge team 14-5.
Baumholtz said the Tigers have given up too many walks in the trio
of losses. Against Lakeridge, NHS starting pitcher Cyrus Hostetler
and Chris Anderson combined to walk 10 batters; against Beaverton,
Newberg’s Grady Winder and Levi Fletcher combined to walk six
batters.
“We put a couple of good things together (against Lakeridge), but
all in all, with a lack of consistency offensively and
pitching-wise, we walked way too many hitters,” Baumholtz said.
“When you walk that many batters, it’s tough to keep them off the
scoreboard.”
Baumholtz said his team’s biggest pitching problem is falling
behind in the count and then struggling to bounce back. The walks
affect other aspects of Newberg’s defense, too, Baumholtz said.
“I think part of it is that when you don’t have the rhythm and
tempo of the game, your defense becomes complacent,” he said.
In addition to the Tigers’ inability to curb the opposition’s
scoring abilities, NHS has had trouble scoring runs. Newberg tallied
six hits against Lakeridge.
After Anderson was hit by a pitch in the third and later scored off
a Lakeridge error, Todd Siler’s RBI ground-rule double gave the
Tigers their second run. In the fifth inning, Jordan Guedon scored
off a Nathan Etzel hit before a Lakeridge error allowed Kyle Thomas
to score. In the sixth, Winder and Thomas Lee singled to start the
inning before Anderson’s infield grounder scored Winder.
Still, the Tigers need offensive work, Baumholtz said.
“We want to try and be aggressive, but we’ve been a little passive
and looking at too many fastballs and maybe swinging at a pitch out
of the zone,” he said.
There may be a silver lining to the grey cloud above the Tigers’
heads, however. The team travels to Ashland to play in a three-day
tournament starting Tuesday. Baumholtz said the tournament will give
the Tigers an opportunity to try to work out the kinks.
“We get the opportunity to address the things we need to fix and
become more consistent all the way through,” Baumholtz said. “We’ve
gotten a really good evaluation of where we’re at so far and the
good thing (about) playing 10 non-league games is that we get to
work the bugs out.”
The Tigers will be the home team Tuesday against Gresham. On
Wednesday, they take on West Albany or Cleveland before finishing
the tournament Thursday. |
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From
March 19, 2005, Newberg Graphic
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