Site search
sponsored by
News
Sports
 ENLARGE
|
Cameron Newell
|
NEWBERG — Dr. Stewart's players had 13 hours to ponder the do-or-die situation they found themselves in at American Legion super regional Saturday night and Sunday morning.
It didn't take nearly that long for the Docs to respond to that situation, and now they find themselves alive and headed to the AAA state tournament.
Dr. Stewart's defeated Newberg Abby's Pizza 14-11 in 11 innings, the last of which began at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning after darkness suspended play Saturday night at George Fox University's Morse Field.
For the Docs (23-12), it was a happy end to a bizarre super regional that saw just about everything on and off the playing field.
“It was a very different experience,” said pitcher Dakota Cavens, whose strikeout with the bases loaded ended the game over 16 hours after it started. “It brought us together as a team to have to quit in the 10th and come back to play (Sunday). It was a pretty tough situation to play in, but I think we handled it well.”
Dr. Stewart's planned to return to Roseburg after the game, win or lose, but after play was called around 9 p.m. Saturday, had to find hotel accommodations while Newberg players slept in their own beds.
“The guys handled the adversity of it very well,” Dr. Stewart's coach Scott Shaver said. “The kids knew what they had to do and came out swinging the bat.”
Cavens was one of three struggling players of late who turned in heroics on Sunday.
Cameron Newell's two-run single broke the 11-all stalemate in top of the 11th inning. Brandon Jackson singled to lead off Sunday, then Johnny Farrington reached on a two-base error when Newberg left fielder Bryan Symonds lost a fly ball in the rising sun.
With runners on second and third, Abby's pulled its infield in and Newell laced a shot over first base and up the right field line.
“Their pitcher (Travis Vincent) had my number all weekend and was pretty much taking everything away from the outer half,” said Newell, who had struggled offensively since suffering from a pulled hamstring earlier this season. “Fortunately I got a pitch I could hit on the inside to the first baseman and got the runs in.”
The Docs added a run on Josh Graham's RBI single to build a three-run lead for Austin Marsh, the pitcher who ended Abby's ninth-inning rally and pitched a scoreless 10th before darkness ended play Saturday night.
Marsh got Tyler Church — the hero of Newberg's 8-7, 11-inning win over the Docs on Friday — to pop out but walked the next two batters. Cavens was summoned and induced a deep flyout to the same sun-baked left field where Farrington's shot fell in, but then walked Symonds to load the bases.
Newberg (22-8) showed the uncanny ability to rally over the weekend, scoring six times in the bottom of the ninth against Corvallis Richey's Market Saturday afternoon only to fall 11-10, and pushed across the winning run against the Docs after blowing a 6-0 lead on Friday.
With Abby's potential winning run at the plate, Cavens struck out Emmett Ackerlund on four pitches, sending Dr. Stewart's to the state tournament in Klamath Falls.
“It didn't really hit me that we'd won right away,” Cavens said. “I knew that I had to get two outs, but it was such a weird situation … you never think about playing one inning and getting a win.”
Marsh (6-2) earned the win in 1 2/3 innings spanning two days and Cavens earned his first save.
Both pitchers had been hit hard in losses to Medford and Klamath Falls in the last week of Area 4 play, but showed poise in tight situations against Newberg.
“Confidence-wise it was huge what Austin and Dakota did, and the same goes for Cameron, too,” Shaver said. “To have guys come through like that really puts us on a high note heading into the state tournament.”
The Docs play host Klamath Falls at Kiger Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Falcons swept Dr. Stewart's in an Area 4 doubleheader in Klamath Falls last Tuesday to close the regular season, winning 15-14 and 22-8. The second game went only five innings, so the Docs should have plenty of incentive by game time Wednesday.
• You can reach sports reporter Rob McCallum by e-mail at rmccallum@nrtoday.com, or by phone at 957-4221.
It didn't take nearly that long for the Docs to respond to that situation, and now they find themselves alive and headed to the AAA state tournament.
Dr. Stewart's defeated Newberg Abby's Pizza 14-11 in 11 innings, the last of which began at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning after darkness suspended play Saturday night at George Fox University's Morse Field.
For the Docs (23-12), it was a happy end to a bizarre super regional that saw just about everything on and off the playing field.
“It was a very different experience,” said pitcher Dakota Cavens, whose strikeout with the bases loaded ended the game over 16 hours after it started. “It brought us together as a team to have to quit in the 10th and come back to play (Sunday). It was a pretty tough situation to play in, but I think we handled it well.”
Dr. Stewart's planned to return to Roseburg after the game, win or lose, but after play was called around 9 p.m. Saturday, had to find hotel accommodations while Newberg players slept in their own beds.
“The guys handled the adversity of it very well,” Dr. Stewart's coach Scott Shaver said. “The kids knew what they had to do and came out swinging the bat.”
Cavens was one of three struggling players of late who turned in heroics on Sunday.
Cameron Newell's two-run single broke the 11-all stalemate in top of the 11th inning. Brandon Jackson singled to lead off Sunday, then Johnny Farrington reached on a two-base error when Newberg left fielder Bryan Symonds lost a fly ball in the rising sun.
With runners on second and third, Abby's pulled its infield in and Newell laced a shot over first base and up the right field line.
“Their pitcher (Travis Vincent) had my number all weekend and was pretty much taking everything away from the outer half,” said Newell, who had struggled offensively since suffering from a pulled hamstring earlier this season. “Fortunately I got a pitch I could hit on the inside to the first baseman and got the runs in.”
The Docs added a run on Josh Graham's RBI single to build a three-run lead for Austin Marsh, the pitcher who ended Abby's ninth-inning rally and pitched a scoreless 10th before darkness ended play Saturday night.
Marsh got Tyler Church — the hero of Newberg's 8-7, 11-inning win over the Docs on Friday — to pop out but walked the next two batters. Cavens was summoned and induced a deep flyout to the same sun-baked left field where Farrington's shot fell in, but then walked Symonds to load the bases.
Newberg (22-8) showed the uncanny ability to rally over the weekend, scoring six times in the bottom of the ninth against Corvallis Richey's Market Saturday afternoon only to fall 11-10, and pushed across the winning run against the Docs after blowing a 6-0 lead on Friday.
With Abby's potential winning run at the plate, Cavens struck out Emmett Ackerlund on four pitches, sending Dr. Stewart's to the state tournament in Klamath Falls.
“It didn't really hit me that we'd won right away,” Cavens said. “I knew that I had to get two outs, but it was such a weird situation … you never think about playing one inning and getting a win.”
Marsh (6-2) earned the win in 1 2/3 innings spanning two days and Cavens earned his first save.
Both pitchers had been hit hard in losses to Medford and Klamath Falls in the last week of Area 4 play, but showed poise in tight situations against Newberg.
“Confidence-wise it was huge what Austin and Dakota did, and the same goes for Cameron, too,” Shaver said. “To have guys come through like that really puts us on a high note heading into the state tournament.”
The Docs play host Klamath Falls at Kiger Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Falcons swept Dr. Stewart's in an Area 4 doubleheader in Klamath Falls last Tuesday to close the regular season, winning 15-14 and 22-8. The second game went only five innings, so the Docs should have plenty of incentive by game time Wednesday.
• You can reach sports reporter Rob McCallum by e-mail at rmccallum@nrtoday.com, or by phone at 957-4221.
