S PORTS
www.hoodrivernews.com
Hood River News, Tuesday, June 24, 2015
A7
Carson Oilers looking to get first win of the season
Team has close first game of doubleheader against Tualatin’s Horizon Christian, plays Gladstone Wednesday at home
By MIKE WEBER
For the News
Two teams seeking their first summer
league win met in an American Legion Sin-
gle A baseball game Monday as the Carson
Oil-sponsored Hood River Oilers hosted the
Horizon Christian Hawks of Tualatin at
Hood River Valley High School’s Traner
Field.
The Oilers certainly had every opportuni-
ty to come up with their first win in Game 1
of a doubleheader. The exciting contest in-
cluded five deadlocks and four lead changes.
However, it was the Hawks who ended up on
top at the end with an 11-10 victory. Horizon
(2-4) continued its solid offense in an 11-3
Game 2 win for the sweep over the Oilers (0-
4).
“We played pretty well in the first game
and we battled hard and it was a good game,”
said Terry Bryant, the Eagles junior varsity
coach in his first year guiding the summer
league squad, assisted by Mel Ahrens. “In
the second game, everybody was just really
tired because some of the guys had just re-
turned home from a football camp. Trevor
Lariza pitched the last four innings of Game
2 and he did a good job, but we just couldn’t
overcome the deficit and just couldn‘t get
anything going.”
The Oilers were shorthanded since they
had only 11 players available in Game 1 and
just 10 in Game 2. Horizon, a 3A school, had
an edge in experience with some seniors on
their roster and they also had 13 players
available to compete. A young Oilers squad
consisted of one freshman (Ben Ahrens) and
mostly Hood River Valley High sophomores
and juniors that played on the junior varsity
squad last season.
“The first two games we played were not
too good (9-2, 16-3 losses to Banks June 15),
but we did really well in the first game and
we had a chance to win, so it was the best
game we’ve played this year,” he said. “We’re
just diving into our season and hopefully
we’ll have a few more kids back for our next
game, such as our leadoff hitter Diego Perez,
who can really help us compete a little better.
It was difficult trying to play with without
having any well-rested players on our bench
to use as substitute for the guys who needed
a break during the game.”
Nevertheless, the Oilers had their chances
in Game 1 and almost came up with a win.
Horizon took the initial advantage by scor-
ing three runs in the top of the first inning to
go ahead 3-0. The Oilers got a run in the bot-
tom half of the frame on an RBI single by
Andy Schmidt. Morgan Williams, who drew
a leadoff walk, scored on the play to make it
3-1 after one inning.
Hood River starting pitcher Quienton Ve-
lasquez had a solid performance on the
mound and he had two strikeouts in the sec-
ond frame to help slow the Hawks offense.
The Oilers charged back in the bottom of the
second, displaying a potent offensive attack
as well to take the lead.
“We’re all hoping that we can get our first
win soon and then continue playing well
throughout the summer league and just have
Photo by Mike Weber
THE CARSON OILERS are, from left to right, starting in the back row: Coach Mel Ahrens, Isaiah En-
riquez, Chet Frasier, Dakota Kurahara, Quienton Velasquez, Andy Schmidt and Coach Terry Bryant. Front
row: Morgan Williams, Jose Mendiola, Lucas Viuhkola, Diego Perez and Trevor Lariza.
Photo by Mike Weber
MORGAN WILLIAMS gets a hit during the fifth inning of Monday afternoon’s game against the Hori-
zon Christian Hawks of Tualatin at Traner Field in Hood River.
fun by winning some games,” said Ve-
lasquez, who pitched the first three innings
of the game. “The summer league is impor-
tant because it helps us prepare for the regu-
lar high school season. It’s pretty much like
having a summer of practice, which can re-
ally help us become an improved team.”
Chet Frasier ignited an Oilers rally with
his RBI single, driving home Lariza, who ear-
lier drew a leadoff walk. Three batters later,
Isaiah Enriquez (2-for-4, 3 RBI) hammered a
ball deep to left field for a 2 RBI double, scor-
ing Frasier and Lucas Viuhkola, who earlier
reached base via a walk. Velasquez (3-for-5, 2
RBI Game 1) followed with an RBI double to
score Enriquez and Schmidt’s RBI single
drove home Velasquez to give the Oilers a 6-3
advantage. The Oilers batted around their
lineup while having a total of 11 batters at
the plate.
Horizon came back to knot it 6-6 in the top
of the third and then regained the lead at 8-6
in the fourth. Hood River answered with a
run in the bottom half, trimming the margin
to 8-7 after four innings.
The Oilers came back in the fifth, high-
lighted by an RBI single by Velasquez, and
knotted it 8-8. The seesaw battled continued
in the sixth, as Horizon went up 9-8. The Oil-
ers were hopeful of getting their first win
though and they came back strong in the
sixth inning. The Oilers capitalized on Hori-
zon mistakes (two walks, fielding error, hit
batter) to regain the lead.
After Hood River loaded the bases,
Williams drew a bases loaded walk and
Dylan Peterson scored to knot it 9-9. En-
riquez was then hit by a pitch with the bases
loaded again and Lariza scored to give the
Oilers their final lead of the game at 10-9.
In the top of the seventh, the Oilers had an
excellent opportunity to pull out the win, but
they were simply unable to overcome a cost-
ly error that helped the Hawks score. Ve-
lasquez, who was playing at first base after
he was relieved on the mound by Willliams,
had an impressive unassisted double play. He
caught a line drive for a putout and then beat
a baserunner to the bag, who was unable to
tagup on the play. If the Oilers didn’t allow
Horizon’s leadoff batter to reach base on the
error, the game would’ve been over at that
point and Hood River would’ve notched its
first win.
Unfortunately for the Oilers, it didn’t turn
out that way. Horizon scored twice in the top
of the inning, including a game winning RBI
triple by senior Weston Groth to give the
Hawks an 11-10 lead. The Oilers had the tying
run on base in the bottom of the seventh
when Schmidt reached base after getting hit
by a pitch, but they were unable to come up
with a clutch hit to bring him home at the
end of the contest.
In Game 2, Horizon led from start-to-finish
as the Hawks just took advantage of the
shorthanded Oilers squad and took control
of the game by scoring six runs in the third
inning to build a 7-2 advantage.
The Oilers will try to get their first of the
season when they host Gladstone Wednesday
at 6 p.m.; players who are expected to be with
the team Wednesday include seniors Dallas
Buckley and Montana Kurahara, who were
both members of the Hood River Valley High
Eagles state championship team. The Oilers
will hit the road for the first time this year
when they play a doubleheader at Milwaukie
High at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The 14-game sea-
son continues through July 14 and the state
playoffs will be held July 23-26.
SPORTS BRIEFS
Free fishing event for kids
TRIPLE THREAT
Photos by Ben Mitchell
Horizon Christian School’s annual Triple Threat concluded last week, with about 70 campers in grades 4-9 attending to improve their basketball fundamen-
tals (triple threat stands for pass, dribble, shoot). In the above left photo, Connor Wells (left), dribbles while his brother, Luke, guards him during one of the
camp’s drills Friday morning. At right, Al Egg, longtime chaplain for the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team, speaks with campers at the end of Friday’s morn-
ing session and has served as the keynote speaker for the camp before. Here, he asks kids who their favorite Trail Blazer player is. The top answer? LaMar-
cus Aldridge (maybe this will convince him to stay in Portland?).
ENDURO
The annual Hood River Enduro mountain bike race was held in the
Post Canyon area last weekend, the second of four races in the
2015 Santa Cruz Oregon Enduro series. According to the event’s
website, Enduro is a form of mountain bike racing in which there is
a greater proportion of downhill sections as opposed to uphill
climbing sections. The race attracts bikers from far and wide, but
plenty of locals entered the event, including Niash Ulmer, pictured
at right, who placed 14th overall in the men’s pro category. Local
mountain bike racing team Dirty Harlots also had a good showing
on the course, with members of the team placing in the top five in
numerous categories. For full results, head to oregonen-
duro.com/series-events/hood-river/.
Photo by Trent Hightower, trenthightowerphotography.com
Young fish enthusiasts are invited to
come fish at the 25th Annual Junior Fishing
Clinic on Saturday, June 27 from 9 a.m. to 2
p.m. at Trillium Lake in the Mt. Hood Nation-
al Forest. The clinic is free and is intended for
kids 13 and under, but young adults and par-
ents will also find it fun and interesting.
There will be prizes for biggest fish caught
and first fish caught, as well as raffle prizes
throughout the day. Educational booths will
be set-up for children to learn about the
salmon life cycle, watersheds and aquatic
ecosystems. Children should bring lunch,
warm clothing, a rod and reel if possible, and
a cooler to bring home their catch of the day.
Limited quantities of rods and reels along
with bait will be provided. The Trillium Lake
Junior Fishing Clinic is made possible by the
sponsorship of Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, local area merchants and the
Mt. Hood National Forest. Trillium Lake is lo-
cated off Highway 26, approximately three
miles east of Government Camp. Trillium
Lake is a fee area, but participants will be
provided a free parking pass for the event.
For more information, call the Zigzag Ranger
District office at 503-622-2006.
White Salmon Backyard Half Results
The 8th Annual White Salmon Backyard
Half drew hundreds of people to White
Salmon last Saturday to compete in the gru-
eling half marathon that takes runners up
through the hills of the Bingen/White
Salmon area, gaining about 2,000 feet of el-
evation within the first seven miles of the
13.1-mile race. The event, while free, sub-
sists on donations, which go to the Colum-
bia High School cross country team in White
Salmon. According to the results list, 240
people finished the half-marathon. The top
finisher from the Hood River was 28-year-old
Dustin Welch, who completed the race in 1
hour, 53 minutes, 54 seconds, exactly 20
minutes behind the winning time. Other top-
10 finishers from the Hood River area are as
follows: Gary Daupenspeck (15th, 1:56:51),
Nils Engbersen (18th, 1:58:47), Tyler Gray
(20th, 2:00:31), Gary Johnson (25th,
2:02:49), Becky Brun (29th, 2nd overall fe-
male finisher, 2:05:17), Caluml Robertson
(31st, 2:07:06), Jax Mariash Koudele (45th,
6th overall female finisher, 2:13:22), Derek
Cerretani, (56th, 2:18:51), and Clark Bryant
(89th, 2:32:53). For complete results, head to
www.columbiagorgerunningclub.com and
click on “WS Backyard ½” link on the side of
the page.