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After a rough pre-season the Centennial Eagles were flying high following a 2-1 series victory over the Gresham Gophers last week to begin league play. The Eagles were hoping to carry their momentum from the series win into their second week of conference play against the Reynolds Raiders however, that was not the case.

Centennials offensive momentum from the 21-runs scored by the Eagles in their three games against the Gophers last week, came to an aggressive stop, as they only scored 4-runs against Raiders in the 3-games played, leading to a series sweep by Reynolds Thursday following a 10-2 victory by the Raiders.

Despite the lopsided score, the Eagles made the Raiders earn their victory after tying the game at 2-runs apiece with a RBI in the 4^th by Mitch Fitzgerald and a RBI in the 5^th by Michael Knight.

However, The Raiders were lifted to the series sweep with a 7-run offensive explosion in the bottom of the 5^th inning, which was started by a 2-run home run by Raiders senior infielder Alec Dehnert.

The Eagles also had a hard time containing the bats of junior David Dodson finishing with 2-hits, 1-run and 2-RBI’s along with senior Mitchell Rose 1-hit, 1-walk, 2-runs and 2-RBI’s to compliment Dehnert’s 2-runs, 2-RBI’s and the games only home run.

After the 7-runs posted by the Raiders, the game was all but over for Centennial and the Raiders were beginning to look towards their tough series next week against the Gophers.

The series sweep gave the Raider sole possession atop the Mt Hood Conference standings with one-third of the conference schedule played.

The Raiders will have a chance to give themselves more of a cushion atop the conference next week, as they will host the Gophers twice in their 3 game series.

The Gophers offense should prove to be difficult for the Raiders to suppress, already having scored 79-runs in their 14-games this season. However, the Gophers do have a tendency to give up runs as well, relinquishing 71-runs to their opponents so far this season.

Both the Raiders and the Gophers are riding a 4-game winning streak entering their series Monday and both squads have a chance to make a big play toward the league title with a series victory.

The Raiders look to have the edge in the series having possibly the best pitching staff in the conference led by star junior sensation Joseph Palmisano.

The Raiders and Gophers series will start Monday at Reynolds Middle School at 4:30PM, while the Eagle will look to get back on track with a series against the Central Catholic Rams, who are also licking their wounds after being swept last week by the Barlow Bruins.  The Eagles and Rams will start their series Monday at Centennial starting at 4:30PM.

Story & Photos by – JESSE ASZMAN 

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Photos by Jesse Aszman

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The Reynolds Raiders visited Bruin territory today for their series finale in this years’ Mt. Hood Conference series opener. The series standings were 1-1 before the match, making it any teams’ series to win. However, solid pressure from Raiders pitcher junior #9 Joseph Palmisano and consistent action at the plate granted Reynolds a 4-2 victory in the 8^th. Read more…

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Photos by Jesse Aszman

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The Reynolds Raiders visited Bruin territory today for their series finale in this years’ Mt. Hood Conference series opener. The series standings were 1-1 before the match, making it any teams’ series to win. However, solid pressure from Raiders pitcher junior #9 Joseph Palmisano and consistent action at the plate granted Reynolds a 4-2 victory in the 8^th.

Raiders were first to put runs up on the board in the top of the 3^rd as junior Infielder Jay Rogers smacked a RBI single that rounded in #11 Jake Erdman, who took a double to open the inning. Second batter Alec Dehnert bided his time after hitting a single and stole home while Bruins were busy rousting Zach Goode with a quick 6-3 play.

The Bruins managed to answer back in the bottom of the 4^th with a slick run by senior Schyler Casey and again in the 6^th when senior Evan Jones crushed a RBI triple into deep center and got rounded in by #12 Alex Richards to tie up the match.

The game remained tied 2-2 through the 7^th, which forced an extra inning of play to determine the series winner. Heavier rains began to fall in the 8^th,  which gave challenge to both teams pitching staffs and defenses alike. However, the determined Raiders managed a repeat of the 3^rd inning as Erdman rounded in junior Michael Vaughn who was walked onto base by Barlow the pitching staff. With Dehnert back at the plate, Erdman managed to steal home thanks to some wet ball handling.

Reynolds pitching staff was a one man show today as junior #9 Joseph Palmisano took the mound at every inning showing no signs of fatigue. Palmisano (unofficially) had 6 Strike-Outs, gave up only 8 Hits, 3 Walks and 2 Runs. When asked how he felt about pitching the whole match, Palmisano simply replied “I like to finish the job that I started.” Palmisano stated he has full confidence in the rest of the Reynolds pitching staff, but doesn’t mind being the big gun for rivals.

Raiders take the Series 2-1 and are off for this years’ tangle with the Centennial Eagles starting Monday Apr. 15. Eagles also looking at a 2-1 league record after winning their Series against Gresham this week.

Bruins have the mighty Central Catholic Rams on their hands this coming week whom has a 3-0 record as they took a series sweep over David Douglas last week and have the momentum for a solid fight.

Box Score

Inning       1  2  3   4   5  6  7  8     F

Raiders  -  0  0  2  0  0  0  0  2    4

Bruins    -  0  0  0  1   0  1   0  0   2

Story By – Nick Jones

Photos by Jesse Aszman

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PHOTOS BY – JESSE ASZMAN

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The Barlow Bruins Hosted the Canby Cougars for the last out of conference match of the year, which almost turned out to be a swim meet, as the famous Oregon spring rains hit hard and made it difficult for both sides.

The Bruins prevailed in a landslide 10-0 victory over the Cougars stopping a possible losing streak and starting League play next week with a little momentum on their side.

“It was not good to just get this game in” head coach Craig Webster said about the game “but to get a win with Reynolds coming up next week, that was huge.”…. Read More

PHOTOS BY – JESSE ASZMAN

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The Barlow Bruins Hosted the Canby Cougars for the last out of conference match of the year, which almost turned out to be a swim meet, as the famous Oregon spring rains hit hard and made it difficult for both sides.

The Bruins prevailed in a landslide 10-0 victory over the Cougars stopping a possible loosing streak and starting League play next week with a little momentum on their side.

“It was not good to just get this game in” head coach Craig Webster said about the game “but to get a win with Reynolds coming up next week, that was huge.”

Barlow Junior #8 Houston Thom was the first Bruin to put a run up on the board when he crushed a home run into left field almost hitting the Canby bus parked on the street.

Fellow Bruins matched pace in the third inning taking advantage of the rains effect on Canby pitching staff who let slip 4 walks one of which walked a run in for Alex Richards first run and loaded the bases.

Bottom of the fifth saw some more action as Thom struck again, hitting a double and getting in position for junior Short Stop Ryan Riepma who sent him home with a single. But why do it once when you can do it three times? Riepma was brought home by a single from Alex Pemberton and lastly, junior Jake Simmons was brought home by Schyler Casey’s single and the last hit of the inning.

In the 6th, the Bruins made some solid and steady connections at the plate, earning another two runs by Nate Hunter and Richards for his second run of the day.

Barlow pitching and defense made short work of the 7^th inning closing it out with a 4-3 Double-play and a fly-out to 1^st.

Reynolds will be hosting the Bruins on Monday for the start of their league play in the Mt. Hood Conference. Barlow was pleased with their win today as they prepare for the Raiders. “The Raiders are a well coached team and they play gritty” Coach Webster said, “and they don’t just have great offense, but they have balanced pitching.”

The Bruins believe a series win over the Raiders can be a big step to bolster their RPI and the right step towards a league title. “We want to win our conference and get a good enough RPI to get a home game” Webster said “I think wins over Reynolds could go a long way to doing that.”

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STORY BY – NICK JONES

PHOTOS BY – JESSE ASZMAN

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The Gresham Gopher Baseball team is young, inexperienced and still learning to play together but they have shown one thing in this early season, resiliency.

Last week the Gophers found themselves in 6-0 hole after 5-innings to the Sandy Pioneers but found their way to the winners circle after 9-innings, inspired by 5-runs in the bottom of the 5^th.

“It was frustrating because they had 5-unearned runs” Gresham Head Coach Chad Waples said about the Pioneers “What I do like is the kids aren’t quitting and that’s something you can’t coach.”   Read more…

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Click Here To See The Gophers Photo Gallery 

The Gresham Gopher Baseball team is young, inexperienced and still learning to play together but they have shown one thing in this early season, resiliency.

Last week the Gophers found themselves in 6-0 hole after 5-innings to the Sandy Pioneers but found their way to the winners circle after 9-innings, inspired by 5-runs in the bottom of the 5^th.

“It was frustrating because they had 5-unearned runs” Gresham Head Coach Chad Waples said about the Pioneers “What I do like is the kids aren’t quitting and that’s something you can’t coach.”

The Gophers continued to show their resiliency last Friday after holding a 5-2 lead against the Franklin Quakers heading into the 7^th inning.

After the Gophers allowed junior Max Mcutchen to steal a run on an errant pitch and Matt Warner to hit an RBI single and to find his way into scoring position, the Gophers lead had shrank to 1-run with the Quakers having only 1-out.

Feeling the game on the line Coach Waples reached for a miracle and charged Junior Mason McCoy out to the mound for the last 9-pitches of the game and the save.

“I feel good that we found a guy that we can go right to” Waples said about McCoy “he normally plays short and 3^rd, and we need him there, but it was good to find out we can go to him very quickly.”

Offensively the Gophers have been solid, and led by standout Freshman Trevor Nannini, who had 7-RBI’s in the Gophers first 6-games and Senior Aaron Larson who has 6-RBI’s of his own.

Despite the hot bats of Nannini and Larson the Gophers still have much to work on to reach their goals this season. Gresham has only two returning Starters this year and have shown their youth with a few errors here and there on defense leading to unearned runs.

Despite the young roster and errors early in the season, Gresham has high expectations this season and are looking to not just make the playoffs, but to win their league title in the process.

“Our aspirations are always to win a league title, make it to the playoffs and ultimately win a state championship” Waples said “ With the inexperience that we have (two returning varsity players) were going to try and win a league title, and I really think the potential is there.”

The Gophers have indeed shown the potential to make the run for a league Championship and beyond showing improvement not just in between games, but they have shown maturation as the games themselves unfold.

Story and Photos by – Jesse Aszman

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Click Here To See The Gophers Photo Gallery 

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The Hermiston Bulldogs celebrated an 11-6 victory over the Centennial Eagles leading the Game from start to finish last Friday. The Eagles made a valiant attempt to rise for the victory but couldn’t hold down the Bulldogs hot bats.

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The Barlow Bruins hosted West Linn Friday the 15th for a surprisingly sunny game of stick. Bruins and Lions are trying to get their Baseball season off the ground, both teams suffering a loss in their first outing and not about to make a habit of it. Barlow was the first to put runs on the board but Lions steady pace and a hot 6th inning took the 6-4 victory.

Barlow was hot out of the gate putting up 3 runs in the first inning. First two thanks to junior #12 Alex Richards who smashed a Home Run his first time at bat and rounded in Schyler Casey who was cooling his heels on 1st. Final run of the inning by #8 Houston Thom off a single from Drew Cunningham.

West Linn took a walk off RBI by #18 Matt Fletcher who also hit a Home Run in the 3rdto run himself and Karsen Lindell across the plate to tie it up 3-3.

Bruins and Lions held each other off until the 6th when West Linn managed to put up 3 more runs including two RBI that #2 Chase Meyers brought in before getting outed by a grounder quick return.

Barlow showed strong potential to make up the 3 run defecit in the 7th as Lions Pitcher gave up 2 walks and a run from Seth Carr. West Linn put in relief pitcher #19 Ryan Anderson who gave up two singles allowing bases to be loaded and Bruins to be within range of victory. West Linn switches Pitchers again to #6 Mitch Mondor whose backup caught 2 fly-outs to end the match.

Barlow will be Hosting Southridge Skyhawks on the 21st after their 4-2 victory over Hood River Valley.

Photos by – Nick Jones

Story by – Nick Jones

Photos By – Jesse Aszman & Nick Jones

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Rose Garden Arena Portland OR - The Rose Garden is alive as it hosts another Holy War between Central Catholic Rams and the Jesuit Crusaders. An anticipated match with a not so anticipated finish as the Rams pull out a serious gear change in the 4th to pull away with a 45-37 win and ending the five year reign of Jesuit winning the State Title.

Rams spent most of the game in a 2-6 point deficit however staying on Crusaders heels and getting tied up once a quarter. with 3 minutes left in the 4th the Rams explode into a point spurt starting with a jumper from Blake Brandell and a series of free throws, four of which by La’Mar Winston, that blasted Central Catholic to a 7pt lead with 25sec left.

Mitchell Franz is the ODS Player of the Game shooting 30% from the field, 75% on FT, 6 rebounds and 13pts total. Deante Strickland not far behind with 12pts and La’Mar Winston with 8pts

With Jesuit out of the way, Coach Munson and his Rams have only one obstacle between them and a much desired State title. Title match is set for Saturday 8:30 pm against the apparently unpredictable West Linn Lions.

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