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C HAMPS
Hood River News, Wednesday, June 10, 2015
“I gave up a
couple (hits),
but I don’t care,
Continued from Page A9 I don’t care at
all,” he said,
giving a dismissive wave. “It would’ve been
nice to throw a no-hitter in the state champi-
onship and in the first game of the playoffs,
but we won it, so I don’t care.”
The batters that were able to connect with
his pitches were stymied by HRV’s defense,
undoubtedly the strongest point of the Ea-
gles’ game this postseason. Of particular
note was a double play to end the second in-
ning, when Walker dove to field a hard
ground ball hit to second base, rolled, flipped
it up to shortstop Skyler Hunter, who caught
it barehanded to get the out at second and
then fired it to Montana Kurahara, who got
the out at first.
Harjo was effusive in his praise of his
players, calling Ward’s performance on the
mound “one of the best I’ve seen,” and the
aforementioned double play “stuff that you
dream about in this kind of game.” He laud-
ed Harvey’s offense (2 for 3, double, single) as
well as Lariza’s (2 for 3, singles) and Van
Hoose’s (1 for 2, single) ability to wear down
Liberty’s starting pitcher, Renner Stecki.
Harjo also gave kudos to Van Hoose’s perfor-
mance in the
outfield, who
“made some
great catches
like a senior
should.”
Rounding
out the nine
hits for HRV
were third
baseman
RYAN WARD
Kellan Duffy
(2 for 3, sin-
gles)
and
centerfielder Dallas Buckley (1 for 4, single),
the latter of whom reader Mike Allegre tells
us became part of the first father-son duo to
win baseball state championships at the
school, as Dallas’ father, Jeff Buckley was
part of the team that won HRV’s first title in
1980 (confirmed by HRV Athletic Director
Keith Bassham).
The win on Saturday was redemption for
last year’s loss in the title game, which HRV
dropped to Sandy, 8-3. Harjo said that players
were “focused on today” and had pushed last
year’s g ame
out of their
minds,
al-
though
he
noted
that
“having been
here before
helped us a
ton” in being
able to pre-
pare for the
game.
Ward, who
in the f all
heads to Washington State University where
he will play Division I ball, said he had plen-
ty of time to think about last year’s exit in
the finals and was determined to make sure
this year’s outcome was different.
“I’ve had about four days to think about
this as my last game, so I was just trying to
come out here and win it this year,” he said.
‘...It’s nice to bring one
home for Hood River and
share it with my
teammates.’
A11
“I mean, it was a terrible feeling last year;
we’ve been thinking about this for 365 days,
so it’s nice to bring one home for Hood River
and share it with my teammates.”
The majority of HRV’s squad will be back
in the fall, but will lose starters Ward, Walk-
er, and Van Hoose to graduation, as well as
reserves Austin Van Riper, Willie Ishizaka,
and Rily Wilson, who could make a serious
campaign for the game’s MVP, as he diligent-
ly wore a shark costume in the 90-plus degree
heat, and served as HRV’s mascot in the post-
season. Harjo said the costume was a vestige
of last year’s playoff run, brought out as a
way to keep things light for a team that was
younger, less experienced, and major under-
dogs. As the team kept winning, though, it
was viewed as more of a good-luck charm.
But the Eagles aren’t underdogs anymore.
They’re champions. So, will the shark make
a return next year?
“Absolutely,” Harjo said. “And we expect to
be here again.”
Photos by Ben Mitchell
IN-GAME ACTION: Starting with the top row, at left, starting pitcher Ryan Ward, winds up for a pitch; next, right fielder Patrick Harvey prepares to bolt home to score HRV’s first run of the game; next, left
fielder Riley Van Hoose gets a hit. Bottom row: Short stop Skyler Hunter completes the first out of a double play, while second baseman Kam Walker, who had just flipped the ball to Hunter, looks on; next,
Walker lets out a yell as he gets the final out of the game; next reserve Rily Wilson says hello to the crowd inside HRV’s lucky shark costume.
C UP
Continued from Page A9
Things changed in the
third quarter, though.
“We pushed the ball ahead
and we kind of got ahead of
ourselves,” Luchsinger ex-
plained. “Our guys started
breaking down because of
the heat.”
Making matters worse
were injuries. Defender
Cullen Bryant had to sub out
due to a shoulder injury in
the end of the first quarter,
and defender Kiefer Kreps,
who had received a “pretty
hard hit to the back of the
head” at the end of the sec-
ond, subbed out in the third
due to dizziness and nausea,
leaving HRV down defend-
ers. Long stick middie Alex
Ellifritz moved to close-in de-
fense, Luchsinger said and
middie Elliot Cramer was
given “a pole” to become a
long stick midfielder, which
he played last year.
LaSalle was able to come
within one, but attack Jack-
son Lebsack “got a goal that
in my opinion totally
switched the momentum,”
Luchsinger said, who re-
ceived a skip pass from be-
hind the net from Levi Glass
to score eight yards out to
make it 10-8 with a few min-
utes left in the fourth. Mid-
fielder Bruce Ostler nailed a
behind-the-back goal with
two minutes left to seal the
deal for HRV and although
LaSalle answered with two
goals, including one with
just one second left, the vic-
tory was HRVs.
Leading the game in goals
for HRV was Brown with
five. Other scorers included
Lebsack (2), Glass (1), Ostler
(1), Ben Van Hoose (1), and
Henry Barton (1). Cramer
was huge on ground balls,
winning eight, and Mikey
Hall, who made 10 saves, in-
cluding a one-on-one from
point-blank range.
Luchsinger was pleased
with No. 3 HRV’s postseason
run, defeating No. 14 Rex
Putnam, No. 6 Grant, and No.
7 Canby on its way to the fi-
nals. The team loses seniors
Kreps, Buschaver, and goalie
Dallen Olmstead (although
Luchsinger said he left the
team at the end of the regu-
lar season), but should be in
a great position next year.
“We are an upcoming team
that can do some serious
damage,” he said. “I think
next year we’re going to sur-
prise a lot of people.”
P U B L I C AT I O N O F
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EWS
IVER N
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ALMON
PUBLIC
14
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AND THE
Barb Smith
Page 2
Contributed photo
A CLOSE-UP of the Cascade Cup awarded to HRV on Saturday.
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