>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

MOORE GAMES AHEAD: Elgin pitcher Dalton Moore delivers to the plate Friday versus Oakland. WIth the victory, Elgin will host Portland Christian Tuesday, for the right to advance to the state championship game. Observer photo/PAUL HARDER

Don’t underestimate those qualities in Elgin baseball coach Greg Luse.

When the time was right —two straight walks by Travis Ludwig — Luse dropped an insightful bomb on his senior pitcher.

“Field mice are fast,” Luse said. “But owls see at night.”

Maybe Luse should be writing Chinese proverbs, instead of coaching?

It worked. Ludwig struck out the next batter to end the sixth inning.

“He asked me what he needed to do,” Luse said. “I just wanted him to relax. I told him to bend a little more, but more importantly he needed to just let it happen.”

That inning helped set up a 5-3 Huskies’ win against Oakland.

Now, Elgin moves on to the Class 2A semifinals, which will be another home field affair.

Portland Christian’s 5-1 win against Salem Academy sent the semifinal game to Elgin, according to the OSAA bracket.

“Everything is going to be tough from here on out,” Huskies first baseman Blaine Baker said. “This is as far as any Elgin baseball team has gone. But we’re not done. We got two games to win.”

Baker showcased his mental toughness all game long.

With the game tied 1-1 in the fourth, Baker took an 0-2 pitch off his side. He pushed Clint Predmore to second, who singled to open the inning. Will Burgess drew a walk, and the Huskies had the bases loaded. G. D. Clark singled to drive in two runs.

Dalton Moore, the Elgin starting pitcher, gave way to Ludwig in the fifth.

Baker had extended the Oakland inning with a throwing error on Moore’s final pitch.

The tying run stood on second when Ludwig strode to the mound.

Baseball is a funny game, the ball seems to pick on players.

Moore hadn’t let the misplay go. While Ludwig warmed up on the mound, Moore tuned-up at shortstop. The sophomore sent spectators scattering with four wild throws to first base.

So, naturally the first ball hit went right to Moore. He fired the ball to Baker. The first baseman lunged for the wild throw, narrowly avioding a collision at the bag. But the Oakland runner from second continued home. Baker gathered himself in time to make an assist to the catcher to end the inning.

“That was a big play,” Luse said. “(Blaine) isn’t going to give up when things go wrong for him. He stayed with it and made a great play.”

Baker made a highlight-reel catch in the sixth. He tracked down a foul ball and made a diving catch to record the first out in the inning.

“All I was thinking about was making that catch,” Baker said. “I needed to redeem myself from some mistakes earlier in the game.”

Ludwig retired the first two batters in the seventh. A single by Ethan Sweeden extended the game for Oakland.

Baker barely beat Cody Perry to the bag for the final out of the game.

“(Travis) gave me a little extra shove,” Baker said. “I think that helped get that out.”

Moore received his coaches endorsement for player of the game.

He opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first.

“It wasn’t a pretty game but it was effective,” Luse said. “We need to hit the ball better in the next game.”

Oakland    001 020 0    —    3 6 3

Elgin    100 211 x    —    5 8 2

WP - Ludwig. LP- Perry. 2B- O, Mathis. HR- E, Da. Moore.