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Sports Buckaroo Bashing: Tigers swept
Buckaroo Bashing: Tigers swept
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 COOL ICE NICE: Tigers third baseman Zach Nice connects on a pitch Tuesday at Pioneer Park. - The Observer/BRUCE MASON “Takin’ care of business ... takin’ care of business ... Takin’ care of business? Well, that didn’t happen Tuesday — for the Tigers, at least. The Buckaroos strolled into town, knocking around starter Richie Carmichael in the opener, then rallying in the sequel to sweep this doubleheader affair, 10-3, 7-4. Now that is taking care of business, right, Mr. Bachman? “It’s been a week since we played,” said La Grande coach Mark Lanman, whose team committed five errors and displayed too many impatient at-bats. “(The Buckaroos) just got done playing in a tournament in Boise, and it showed. They came out and just hit the crap out of the ball that first game.” Sixteen hits? Seven off Carmichael? Ten runs before La Grande disposed that goose egg on the centerfield scoreboard? Call it a Buckaroo Bashing. Game two was better — in the beginning, at least. La Grande scored two first-inning runs, courtesy of RBI singles from Evan Humphry and Jacob Johnston. Meanwhile, Zach “Cool Ice” Nice lived up to his billing on the mound, throwing four shut out innings before a pitch count ended his evening. He would exit in fitting style — heaving a pitch over the plate for a called third strike, ending a bases-loaded jam. But then he was done. And the Buckaroos woke up. They would take the lead (4-3) in the sixth, only to immediately allow the Tigers’ Kevin Boyd to tie the contest on his two-out RBI single. Parents and students shivered in the cold weather. How much longer will this last? Will we see extra innings? It’s freezing! They were warm soon enough. Thanks to a gutsy call. Here it was: Tie game. Seventh inning. Buckaroo runner Gabe Rowe standing at third base. As La Grande reliever Cole Stein delivered from the stretch, Rowe lowered his head, darting toward home plate. (Gasp.) Suicide squeeze? Suicide squeeze. Buckaroo batter Jake Talbot stood in the batter’s box, patiently waiting as Rowe chugged toward home, tossing dirt behind his digging cleats. Talbot made contact, perfectly placing the hardball on that infield grass. Rowe would score. And Pendleton would go on to win. “The execution was perfect,” said Buckaroos coach Greg Whitten. “I knew that those two guys would be able to do it. “I had faith in them.” And Lanman has faith La Grande will rebound from this sweep — and start takin’ care of business. “We told them not to hang their heads,” he said. “Baseball is a funny game ... it’s a game of failure. It’s how you deal with the failure that determines how successful you are. “Bottom line is: We just got to get better, which I think we will.” Game 1Pendleton 244 000 0 — 10 16 4 La Grande 000 030 0 — 3 6 3 WP — West. LP — Carmichael.
Game 2Pendleton 000 013 3 — 7 8 0 La Grande 201 001 0 — 4 9 2 WP — Van Pelt. LP — Stein. 2B — LG, Carmichael. |
