Pioneers send the Crusaders Packing

The Oregon City Pioneers held their ground against the elements for a three hour, 9-Inning match with the Jesuit Crusaders for a 6-5 victory on the Pioneers home field this Saturday. This win makes Oregon City the last team alive in the playoffs for the entire Portland Metro area. “We’re the little engine that could, that’s what we are and we’re not going down without a fight”, says Pioneers assistant coach Mike Lord.

It was a fairly low scoring match until things heated up in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Pioneers brought home 3-RBI and an additional run which was awarded from a catcher interference call against Jesuit. However the Crusaders managed to close the gap by the 7^th inning and tying up for extra innings that were rescheduled for Saturday the 26^th due to lightning storms over Portland.

The 8^th and 9^th innings proved highly eventful as both teams scrapped push ahead and break the tie. Surprising action from the Pioneers pitching staff handing out more walks in the 9^th inning than they have given up in their entire playoff run this year.

Jesuit offense played a good match tagging 8-Hits, 4-RBI and 5-Runs on the Pioneers. Solid attention towards Jesuit Senior Peter Dempsey who’s colors shown through as he bagged 3-RBI and had a 75% hitting average at the plate.

Jesuit Pitching staff played strong lead by sophomore Christian Martinek who is the #1 prospect for state in his class. Martinek struck-out 11-Batters and gave up 9-Hits and 7-Walks.

The pace was matched by the Pioneers taking 9-Hits, 4-RBI and 6-Runs. Offense definitely got the job done by being able to hit the ground running in the extra innings which is inconsistent with their typical playing style of heating up late in the match.

This puts Oregon City into the Semi-Finals as they play at Legion Field against the Roseburg Indians who are currently ranked #1 in the standings. The Pioneers will have to roll their momentum and throw everything they have at this next match to break the Indians 8-game winning streak.

-Nick Jones NWPREPS.NET

-Photos by Jesse James