SPORTS
Thursday, May 31, 2018
East Oregonian
ROCKETS: Baseball team ready for Knappa
MARINERS: LeBlanc
starts Thursday to try
and even the series
Continued from 1B
Rock disposed of the Tro-
jans 14-4 before going on to
win the state championship.
During that game, Rockets
head coach saw the youth
on the Trojans’ roster and
knew that a few years down
the road they would be even
better.
And Fitzpatrick’s predic-
tion was spot-on. The No. 2
Trojans come into the cham-
pionship game with a 23-4
record and have won 14
straight games where they
have allowed more than two
runs in a game only twice.
In the postseason the Trojans
have been lights-out, beating
No. 15 Riddle, No. 10 North
Douglas and No. 3 Central
Linn by a combined score of
36-1.
But the Rockets (23-3) are
not scared of the Trojans and
the Rockets are not scared of
the championship stage. This
is only the second state title
game appearance for Ken-
nedy in its school history, the
first being a runner-up finish
in 2006. And for the Rockets,
it’s the fourth straight year
the program will play at Ore-
gon State’s Softball Complex
for the title game, giving the
Rockets a comfort level in
Corvallis that they are hoping
to use to their advantage.
“We’ve talked about the
pressure is more on them
(Kennedy) than us,” Fitz-
patrick said. “They have the
higher ranking, they’re the
home team and none of them
have been here before. We
have and we’re hoping we
can come out and get on them
early and put the pressure on
them.”
Fitzpatrick is also expect-
ing a lot of Rockets fans in
the stands to help cheer on the
squad. Pilot Rock canceled
classes to allow as many stu-
dents and families to travel to
support the softball and base-
ball teams as possible, and
have a bus traveling to Cor-
vallis and Salem as well.
“It’s a big thing for the
town,” Fitzpatrick said. “The
town will probably be empty
because everyone will be
here.”
And with the comfort level
on the field, the fan support
in the stands, and the experi-
ence in the dugout, Fitzpat-
rick says the Rockets’ recipe
for the school’s fourth state
title is simple.
“Limit our mistakes,” he
said. “Kennedy has a good
team and we can’t give them
extra outs, which we’ve
struggled with a little bit this
year. We just need to focus on
what we do best, which is hit-
ting, and put the pressure on
them.”
First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
at the OSU Softball Complex
in Corvallis.
BASEBALL
No. 1 KNAPPA vs. No. 3
PILOT ROCK — The cur-
rent group of Pilot Rock base-
ball players will be going into
new territory on Friday. The
Rockets are in the state cham-
pionship game for the sixth
time in school history, but
it’s the first time since 2000
— before some players were
Page 3B
FIRST BASE FOR
GAMEL?
After
the
Mari-
ners acquired left fielder
Denard Span in a trade
with Tampa Bay on Fri-
day, manager Scott Servais
noted that outfielder Ben
Gamel could see action at
first base with Healy.
Gamel played one game
at first base last season.
“I took a lot of early
work there last year,”
Gamel said. “But nothing
this year. It is something I
obviously need to get work
in at.”
As the fourth outfielder,
Gamel said he is willing to
try anything to stay in the
lineup.
UP NEXT
Rangers: Left-hander
Mike Minor (4-3, 5.63
ERA) has a team-high four
wins. And even though he
has had an awful May (2-2,
6.91 ERA this month), he
won his last start in Kan-
sas City on Friday. He has
two no-decisions already
against the Mariners this
season.
Mariners: What a roll
left-hander Wade LeBlanc
(0-0, 2.70 ERA) has been
on since he joined the rota-
tion. In his five starts, he
has given up just five runs
in 26 1/3 innings pitched
(1.71 ERA). The most he’s
given up in any start is two
runs. This will be his first
career start against Texas.
Continued from 1B
Kela, who graduated
from nearby Chief Sealth
High School in Seattle, had
registered four consecutive
scoreless outings in the
past week before Wednes-
day. He has become the
team’s primary ninth-in-
ning option.
“I had to grow into it,”
Kela said. “I’ve always
enjoyed
pitching
in
high-pressure situations —
the defining moments.”
Fellow relievers rave
about
Kela’s
explo-
sive fastball and dancing
curveball.
“His heater, I feel like
jumps . or hops,” Texas
left-hander Jake Diekman
said. “His curveball is 12-6
(in direction) and super
hard. He’s always had a
killer instinct.”
Kela was drafted in the
29th round by his home-
town Mariners in 2011, but
did not sign. Instead, he
spent one season at Ever-
ett Community College
before the Rangers drafted
him in the 12th round a
year later.
“I like coming to Seat-
tle, but I don’t ever get to
be here during the times I
enjoy it,” said Kela, whose
mother and sister still live
in the area. “The best time
is when I am playing ball,
so I don’t get to enjoy the
city as much as I’d like to.”
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Pilot Rock’s Quinton Orr is greeted by his team at home plate after hitting a home
run during Tuesday’s state playoff game against Bandon.
“I’m really happy I have all this
support actually,”
— Jaiden Lemberger, Pendleton athlete
LEMBERGER: A three
sport standout for the
Buckaroos
even born.
The Rockets’ run to the
title game did not surprise
Leasy this season, as he knew
this team had a good chance
when they began practicing in
March.
“I knew we had qual-
ity pitching and good senior
leadership,” Leasy said. “And
when you can pitch at the 2A
level and if your bats come,
good things are going to hap-
pen. And that’s exactly what’s
happened to us, our bats have
come and we’re hitting the
ball well up and down our
entire lineup.”
The No. 3 Rockets (20-
2) will have their hands full,
too, with the No. 1 Loggers
(23-0), who are playing in the
2A/1A championship game
for the sixth time overall and
the fourth consecutive sea-
son. The Loggers won the
title last year with a thrilling
10-9 victory over Reedsport,
and they are trying to com-
plete an undefeated season
with a title for the second time
in their history, doing so in
2015 where they went 27-0.
“They’re going to be expe-
rienced there,” Leasy said.
“It’ll be a challenge, for sure,
but we’re up for that. They’re
a quality ball club no doubt
about it, so we just have to go
play well like we did (Tues-
day) and execute well both
offensively and defensively
and we should be fine.”
The championship game
will be a matchup of two
teams that can both hit the
snot out of the ball, as well as
pitch extremely well. Knappa
averages 12.5 runs per game
of offense and has allowed
only 26 runs in its 23 games
this season. The Loggers have
won their three playoff games
over No. 16 Riddle, No. 8
Monroe and No. 5 Kennedy
by a combined 24-3 score.
The Rockets average more
than eight runs per game and
have allowed only 49 runs in
22 games this season, the sec-
ond-lowest mark in the state.
However, the Rockets won’t
man year of high school
I kept going (with track)
and I really loved it,” Lem-
berger said. “I was always
excited for the season and
I always wanted to run in
college so I’m glad I got
into Lane.”
Former Buckaroo run-
ner Nolan Bylenga, who
ran track at Lane CC this
spring, was a “big help” for
Lemberger, she said, as the
two exchanged text mes-
sages often so Lemberger
could get a better idea of
the school and the Titans’
program. And once she
took a visit to the school
earlier in the spring, she
was sold.
“I loved the program
and I loved the environ-
ment of Eugene,” Lem-
berger said. “I really liked
the coaches, they’re all
really nice ... I just really
liked it there.”
————
Contact
Eric
at
esinger@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0839.
Follow him on Twitter @
ByEricSinger.
Continued from Page B1
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
program official on Tues-
day night as she signed her
National Letter of Intent
with the Titans in front of
numerous family, friends
and high school coaches
with a party at Big John’s
Pizza.
“I’m really happy I
have all this support actu-
ally,” Lemberger said. “My
family and friends have
always been there for me.
My track coaches are my
life, they’re so nice to me
and support me and same
with my basketball coach,
Kevin Porter, he’s helped
me through a lot. It’s so
nice to have a good sup-
port system here.”
Lemberger, a three-
sport standout for the
Buckaroos, said that she
has developed a passion
for track and field season
since her freshman year
and that drove a desire to
compete collegiately.
“I was always a soft-
ball person growing up,
but I started running track
in middle school and fresh-
Pilot Rock pitcher Levi Theime prepares to hurl the ball during Tuesday’s state play-
off game against Bandon.
have their ace, Levi Thieme,
available to pitch after
Thieme threw 109 pitches for
his complete-game win in the
semifinals on Tuesday.
Leasy said he thought
briefly on Tuesday about try-
ing to keep Thieme’s pitch
count down so he could
be available on Friday, but
decided that he’s confident
with seniors Bryson Pierce
(0.96 ERA, 47 K in 21 2/3
innings) and Chris Weinke
(1.59 ERA, 43K in 30 2/3
innings) on the hill to win the
Rockets a title.
“I’m very comfortable
with where we are today,”
Leasy said of the pitchers.
“I’ll take Chris Weinke and
Bryson Pierce on the bump
every day in any game.
There’s no qualms there and I
don’t regret anything.”
First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
————
Contact Eric at esinger@
eastoregonian.com or 541-
966-0839. Follow him on
Twitter @ByEricSinger.
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