Down 7-1 at Scappoose going into the sixth inning in a 4A baseball quarterfinal Friday evening, Philomath High needed to make something happen fast to create scoring opportunities.

The sixth-seeded Warriors (21-7-1) did indeed put together a rally over the final two innings to pull to within a run. In fact, Philomath trailed 7-5 and had the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh but in a frustrating turn of events, could only get one more run home in what ended up as a one-run loss to end the team’s season.

Facing third-seeded Scappoose’s ace pitcher, senior Joe Fagan, Philomath got on the scoreboard first in the top of the first when senior Grant Niemann hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in junior Rocco De La Rosa, who had opened the game with a double.

But the Indians (19-5) scored in each of the next four innings to build a 7-1 lead. Errors played a role in the game with Philomath committing six on the evening. Only three of the seven runs scored against Warrior pitchers were earned. On the other side, none of the six runs that the Indians allowed were earned with miscues piling up.

Scappoose lent a hand in Philomath’s success to score runs in the sixth. Senior Kayson Olsen was hit by a pitch, sophomore Jacob Hernandez reached on an error and sophomore AJ Altishin walked with two outs to load the bases. Olsen ended up scoring on a wild pitch and both Hernandez and Altishin scored on a Scappoose error when senior Joe Barnes put in play a hard grounder.

A ground out to third ended the inning with a runner in scoring position but Philomath had cut its deficit to 7-4.

After a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth, the Warriors came back in the top of the seventh and nearly completed the comeback. De La Rosa reached on an error, senior Caleb Babcock hit a line-drive single to left and Niemann followed with a single to right to load the bases.

That brought up Olsen and he delivered with a single to left that scored De La Rosa. Scappoose then got a Philomath batter to pop up for the first out. Senior Brady Russell hit a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Babcock while Niemann and Olsen were held up at second and first, respectively.

With two outs, Scappoose ended the game with its right fielder making a catch on a fly ball.

Philomath’s Niemann had a 2-for-3 game with a double and one RBI in his final game for the Warriors. De La Rosa had the early double and Olsen and Russell collected RBIs. Philomath was limited to just five hits.

On the mound, junior Wylie Griffith started and went the first three innings, allowing six hits, six runs, two earned runs and no walks with one strikeout. Barnes took over in the fourth and over his three innings allowed one hit, one run, one earned run and three walks with two strikeouts.

Scappoose’s Fagan pitched 4-2/3 innings and allowed two hits, one run, no earned runs and one walk with six strikeouts. Sophomore Will Kessi in 2-1/3 innings allowed three hits, five runs and no earned runs with one walk and no strikeouts.

At the plate for the Indians, senior Riley DuBois and Kessi each had two hits.

Scappoose advances to the semifinals and will face seventh-seeded Pendleton, which pulled off a 9-6 upset over second-seeded Junction City. On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Marist Catholic advanced with a 13-3 rout over eighth-seeded Molalla and fifth-seeded Henley posted a 2-0 win over fourth-seeded Newport.

The Warriors finished with the most victories in a season since winning 26 in 2000.

Scappoose 7, Philomath 6
Friday at Scappoose HS

Team1234567RHEPhilomath (21-7-1)1000032656Scappoose (19-5)132100×773

Griffith, Barnes (4) and Niemann; Fagan, Kessi (5) and DuBois. W — Fagan. L — Griffith. Sv — Kessi. 2B — Niemann (P), De La Rosa (P), Lennox (S), Kessi (S).

Related