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Wednesday, April 1, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Outlaws baseball crowned champs at tournament in Arizona
By rongi Yost
Correspondent
FREE EVENT
The Outlaws took first
place for the third straight year
at the Chandler Prep Baseball
Classic, which was held in
Chandler, Arizona, Thurs-
day through Saturday, March
26-28. Sisters was undefeated
at the tourney.
Sisters started with a five-
inning, 15-6 victory over Val-
ley Christian on Thursday.
Cody Kreminski’s grand-
slam over the left-center field
wall on a fastball in the second
inning was the big highlight of
the game. The ball landed in a
swimming pool, and Kremin-
ski drove around the neighbor-
hood, and knocked on doors
until he retrieved the ball as a
memento of his big hit.
Justin Harrer was the win-
ning pitcher of record. Alex
Olivier had a good showing
at the plate and went 2/3. Kre-
menski went 2/3.
Later in the day, the Out-
laws recorded a 14-4 win in
five innings over Harrisburg.
Freshman Zach Morgan
had his first start and win on
the mound.
“Zach was able to throw
strikes, get ahead in the count,
and had a good curve-ball,”
said Coach Steve Hodges. “He
didn’t allow extra-base run-
ners, and only had two walks.”
Jon Luz and Ryan Funk
went 2/3 from the plate, and
Olivier went 2/2.
On Friday, the Outlaws
defeated Chandler Prep 13-3
in five innings of play.
Sisters threw a variety of
pitchers. Funk started on the
mound and was the winning
pitcher of record. Olivier
threw well for the Outlaws,
and Hayden Parsons came in
to finish.
Harrer went 2/2 with a tri-
ple in the third. Justin ripped
a shot down left-center field
and was so quick he made it to
third and drove in a run.
Alec Gannon laced a triple
to right-center field in the
third and also drove in a run.
Alec finished the game with a
throw from left field to put the
runner out at home.
Funk went 3/3 with two
RBI.
Sisters was seeded No. 1 as
they headed into the finals on
Saturday. The Outlaws once
again matched up with Valley
Christian, but this go-round
faced their No. 1 and No.
2 pitchers, which made it a
whole different ball game. Sis-
ters came out on top with a 3-0
win in the semi-final game.
The Outlaws scored two
runs in the first, one in the
third, and had zero errors in
the contest.
Luz started the Outlaws
off with a single in the first,
and Harrer drove him in with
a double down the left-field
line. Justin stole third and a
sacrifice-fly from Kremenski
scored Harrer.
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Sisters’ final run of the
contest came in the third. Har-
rer hit a single and stole sec-
ond base, and Morgan drove
him in with a single.
Luz and Morgan combined
for a three-hitter. Jonathan
pitched a solid five innings for
the Outlaws and Zach pitched
the final sixth and seventh
innings for the save.
“We played exceptional
defense,” said Hodges. “Justin
(Harrer) had eight assists for
put-outs, which was a big part
of our defense in this game.”
The Outlaws matched
up against 3A-powerhouse
Santiam Christian (SC) in
the championship game and
earned a 5-1 win to take home
the trophy.
Hodges said, “We tend to
run into them (SC) down here.
It’s always a good game and
this was no exception. They
are always in the state playoffs
and have won several state
championships. They beat us
last year when we were get-
ting ready for the state play-
offs. We wanted to return the
favor, and we did.”
Sisters scored five runs off
nine hits and zero errors, and
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the Eagles scored one run off
five hits and three errors.
Harrer went the distance
for the Outlaws on the mound
and recorded the win. Justin
had an impressive 11 strike-
outs in the game.
“Justin really had a good
fastball going,” said Hodges.
“He had good velocity, and he
threw as hard in the seventh as
he did in the first.”
A key moment in the game
came in the second inning.
Santiam Christian had scored
one run, and had runners on
first and third, with no outs.
Justin stayed calm and in con-
trol, and threw out the side.
“That was a turning point
in the game,” said Hodges. “It
was pretty amazing. It was a
big momentum shift.”
Sisters scored three runs
in the third. Luz got on base
with a single, and stole sec-
ond, and Harrer followed with
a double to left-center field to
score Luz. Funk drove in Har-
rer with a single. The Outlaws’
third run came when Odin
Thorson got on base via an
error, stole second, and then
scored on an error.
The Outlaws final two
runs came in the fifth. Olivier
reached first on an error, stole
second, and was driven home
by a double from Harrer. Jus-
tin stole second base and Kre-
menski drove him home with
a base-hit to finish the scoring.
Sisters brought home the
trophy for the third straight
year.
“It’s always nice to play
five games in three days,
and it gives the guys time to
get comfortable in the line-
up,” said Hodges. “And, to
only have five errors for the
tournament is pretty impres-
sive,” stated Hodges. “To play
defense that solid this early
in the season is certainly one
of the reasons we’re having
success.
“To win the tournament
and be 6-0 is certainly a
confidence-builder. It makes
believers out of the young
guys. They know they’re on
a team that can compete. It
was a good team-building
week and sets the tone for
the year. I’m very happy with
the team’s progress. They’re
in the right mind-set to com-
pete for the league title once
again.”
“The ego is like a kid in the basement.
It’s best to keep him busy.”
— Tim Allen, Comedian
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Corner of Hood & Fir, Sisters
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