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Tigers take home fourth from tourney
Gallagher wins all-around title in St. Paul
Newberg Royals gear up for season
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Abby's ends season amid controversy |
The baseball team concludes its season with 19 games
remaining of its schedule |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
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Citing
an insufficient number of players, the Abby’s American Legion AAA
baseball team cut short its season Sunday with a game in the Star
Spangled Tournament at Corvallis High School.
“The only reason is because we’re not going to have enough players
to finish the season,” said Abby’s coach Frank Baumholtz.
Baumholtz said one player had to leave for a family emergency on
the East Coast, another player had a family wedding to attend, two
players voluntarily left the program, three players had various work
commitments, and three other players were released from the team for
violating team rules.
The Tigers finished 5-18 on the season, one that Baumholtz saw the
Tigers getting better as the summer progressed.
“I think you’ve got to look at the little things,” he said. “We
were swinging the bat better. Our learning curve was getting better,
too.”
The tournament marked the end of a stormy summer season that seemed
to unravel with a fiasco centered on Jordan Burger. Burger admitted
he punched teammate Austin Casey in the face at a June 29 game at
Century High School in Hillsboro.
The Hillsboro Police Department arrived and arrested Burger during
the game. He was transported to Yamhill County where he spent the
night in the juvenile detention facility.
Tim Casey, an assistant coach for the Tigers and Austin Casey’s
father, allegedly was the one who called the police. He refused to
comment on the incident and admonished the press not to contact his
son for comment. Baumholtz refused comment on the
altercation, as well.
Burger said he and Austin had played baseball together harmoniously
since grade school and had been coached by Tim Casey prior to this
season. Burger also said while he and Austin Casey weren’t best
friends, they weren’t enemies either.
Burger apologized to Austin Casey and added he regretted his
actions.
“If I knew all this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have hit him,”
he said. “I would’ve used my head a little bit more.”
“I think both of them (Burger and Casey) made bad moves,” teammate
Grady Winder said.
Burger’s future at Newberg High School remains to be seen, although
he said he won’t play under coach Frank Baumholtz again.
“I don’t know if there is (a future),” he said. “I’m pretty sure
I’m not going to go to school here next year. If things change, then
we’ll see, but I’m not going play for coach (Frank) Baumholtz ever
again.”
Because of a restraining order against him, Burger was not
allowed to play in Thursday’s game versus Richie’s Market in
Corvallis. But before he left, Burger and seven other players
approached Baumholtz and asked that Tim Casey be removed from the
team or they would quit. Burger said Baumholtz didn’t back down.
“His exact words to us were, ‘If you walk out on me tonight, you’ll
never play for me again,’” Burger said.
Burger left, the game went on and Abby’s fell 10-5. Baumholtz
refused to comment on the situation.
Winder, an NHS senior, witnessed Burger’s confrontation
with Baumholtz. He wasn’t there because he was in favor of
Burger’s decision, he said, but rather because he recognized the
situation could get tense.
“I just thought it would be uncomfortable,” he said.
Winder said the team was split on whether Casey should remain as
coach.
“I didn’t really care too much,” he said.
Baumholtz’s took over the NHS baseball program this season after
the Tigers won the state title in 2003 and fell in the title game in
2002. But the 2004 team wasn’t expected to do as well during the
high school season. The Tigers didn’t make the
playoffs and have had few wins during summer play.
“I don’t think he’s a bad coach, but I think he came in and wanted
to change things too quickly,” Burger said. “He treated it like it
was his program instead of our program. He wanted everything to be
his way and that’s not a bad thing. But in order for a coach to be
respected, (he or she has) to respect the players.”
Not everybody on the team feels as Burger does. Ian Roholt took the
opposite stance of Burger on just about everything. The first
baseman who will attend the University of Portland in the fall said
he not only likes Tim Casey, but Baumholtz as well.
“I think he has a great mentality toward coaching and what he tries
to instill in his players,” Roholt said. “For his teams to be
successful, guys have to buy into what Baumholtz is trying to teach
them. We had a really tough time with that, at least some of our
guys did. I agreed with everything that he was doing.”
Roholt, who wasn’t one of the eight players to confront Baumholtz
prior to Thursday’s game, said Baumholtz was a “stickler” for
mentality and sportsmanship and “being a good moral person and
having true character.”
“No matter what, Baumholtz really tried to instill character into
guys,” he said.
Roholt said controversies aside, he didn’t want the season to
end.
“It’s unfortunate the summer ended so soon,” he said. “Things just
happen that way sometimes.” |
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From
July 7,
2004, Newberg Graphic
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