 |
Bailey named national coach of the year
Coyote Homes season starts to wind down
BMX event may draw hundreds
Santana earns national honor
|
Royals come up big in final inning |
Brett Case hits a game-winning single Thursday to
help Newberg defeat Aloha 14-13 |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
|
It was a game that seemed like
it lasted forever. It nearly did.
The Newberg Royals, a 13/14-year-old baseball team, saw their
three-hour and 10-minute game with Aloha come to an end in the
bottom of the seventh inning when Brett Case hit the game-winning
RBI to lead the team to a dramatic 14-13 win.
“It was quite a comeback,” said Royals coach Steve Hodges. “It was
quite a contest. Obviously the hitters brought their sticks and
pitching wasn’t quite as effective as the hitters were.”
Down 13-10 to start the final inning, the Royals battled back.
Taylor Boyd singled to lead off the inning and Jake Burger was
walked. Colby Nelson smacked a two-RBI triple to bring Newberg
within 13-12. After a passed ball allowed Nelson to score to tie the
game, Billy Brown was walked. He stole second and another passed
ball moved Brown to third base before Case came up with the
game-winner.
The win improved the Royals, who saw Tanner Hodges hit a
ground-rule double over the 340-feet sign against Aloha in the win,
to 11-6 in league play and 24-16 overall.
On July 1, the Royals suffered an 8-4 loss in nine innings to
league-leading Beaverton.
“That was a heartbreaking loss because it would’ve made a huge
difference in the standings,” Hodges said. “It was a tough one. I
didn’t get a lot of sleep that night.”
Hodges said he was glad the Royals were able to bounce back after
the Beaverton loss with the win over Aloha.
“The win kind of proved that we could come back,” he said. “It was
a confidence builder.”
The Royals return to action this weekend at a tournament in
McMinnville. With a key game at Sherwood Tuesday and a home game
against Southridge on Thursday, Hodges said he will rest his
starting pitchers this weekend.
“Those two games will determine a lot,” Hodges said. “If we
win those two games, we can help ourselves out a lot by grabbing a
playoff spot.”
Hodges said the pitching staff, which is relatively young and
inexperienced, is critical for the team’s success.
“With our pitching staff, if somebody would’ve told me that we
would still have the possibility of making the playoffs this late in
the season, I would’ve said it wouldn’t be a high possibility. But
we’ve surprised a lot of folks and its great,” Hodges said. “A lot
of teams are playing out the string and we’re playing for
something.”
|
|
From
July 10,
2004, Newberg Graphic
Click Here to Subscribe |
|
|
