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Despite hot bats, Tigers split
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 CLASSIC CAR: Tigers starter Richie Carmichael struck out seven batters through five innings in game one Saturday. The Observer/BRUCE MASON The boys are back in town? The bats are back in town. A dozen La Grande runs in the opener. Nine more in the sequel. Twenty hits on the day. But through all the at-bats, all the hits and all the scoring, here were the Tigers, walking off the diamond with a split, not a sweep.
La Grande and Ontario swapped victories Saturday (12-1, 12-9) in their Greater Oregon League opener, slugging out hits like The Beatles pumped out platinum records in their prime. Twenty La Grande hits? Twenty-one runs? No sweep? No sweep. “We just didn’t play our best game our second game,” said Tigers assistant coach Todd Nice, whose team committed five errors in game two, a 12-9 defeat. “Half of (Ontario’s) runs were unearned. You can’t do that against a team like Ontario.” And your “Ice” cannot melt. It was an uncharacteristic start for Zach “Cool Ice” Nice — his fastball wasn’t popping, and Ontario took advantage. Here was Ontario’s Matt Anthony, ripping a triple. Here was Ryan Laubacher, ripping a double. Here was Laubacher again, belting a two-run home over the tiered right-centerfield fence. All of this off Zach Nice? All of this off Zach Nice But don’t blame this on him. Errors. Base running blunders. More errors. More base running blunders. All of it prevented a Tigers comeback, even if they did outslug the opposition. Comeback? That wasn’t a thought in game one. No need. Richie Carmichael was superb on the mound, yielding just four hits through five innings while walking one. Zoom, zoom, pop. There’s a strikeout. Zoom, zoom, pop. There’s another. He finished with seven. And those bats supporting him were piping hot. How hot? Well, here was the La Grande third inning: Sixteen batters. Seven hits. Eleven runs scored — nine coming with two outs. If anyone arrived late in those bleachers, they saw a centerfield scoreboard having to post “1,” since “11” couldn’t fit. Here was Cole Stein, uncorking a three-run triple. Here was Cody McKague, unleashing a two-run double. Five of the first six Tigers batters reached base via walks. Four finished with RBIs. Five innings, game over. Hot? More like burning. So check those Tigers’ hands today for third-degree burn marks. The bats are back in town. “We did the things we needed to do in that inning,” said Todd Nice regarding that double-digit third, citing patience as the key to the explosion. “We strung a bunch together right there.” As they did in the night cap, too. Carmichael (3-for-3, double, four RBI) was stellar at the plate, leading a team which out hit the opposition, 12-11. But those base-running blunders (caught stealing three times, picked off once) and five errors led to a split, not sweep. “We scored enough runs to win,” Todd Nice said. “(But) you can’t give a team like Ontario five extra outs.”
Ontario 000 01 — 1 4 2 La Grande 01(11) 0x — 12 8 0 WP — Carmichael. LP — Laubacher. 2B — McKague. 3B — Stein.
Ontario 204 122 1 — 12 11 3 La Grande 400 203 0 — 9 12 5 LP — Z.Nice. 2B — Carmichael, Yundt, A.Nice; O, Turner, Rios. 3B — O, Anthony. HR — O, Laubacher. |
