since July 7, 2004.Approximately 20 spectators gathered this past weekend at Black Hills High School in Tumwater to support Evergreen’s club baseball team as they faced the boys from Bend, the Central Oregon Community College Bobcats.
Undeterred by the University of Oregon’s sweep the previous weekend, the Geoducks took to the field and played better than before. Was it more practice, more fan support, or that sexy image? As one onlooker put it, "Those uniforms leave little to the imagination."
Nevertheless, the Geoducks have found their game. Though they lost Saturday’s game and Sunday’s doubleheader, again it was not by lack of effort, merely runs scored.
On Saturday, Central Oregon led off, scoring first when outfielder Geoff Wagner managed to steal home. Then Bobcat pitcher Tyson Neuhaus attempted the same but collided with Geoduck catcher Ross Trainor, whose hold on the ball resulted in the Bobcats’ final out.
During the bottom half of the inning, Geoduck outfielder Jeremy Harrison-Smith stole home. That run was the first of only two the team scored; the second came in the fourth inning, when outfielder James Stippich hit a double, allowing Joe Erickson to score. And though the Geoducks wouldn’t score again, they held the Bobcats to only eight runs.
After some R’n’R, the Bobcats came back Sunday morning and swept the Geoducks 12-0 and 22-7. The Bobcats clearly dominated the first game, not allowing any runs and only a handful of hits. The highlight may have been – aside from both teams hitting foul balls within close proximity of spectators – when Bobcat pitcher Nolan Wilson, Pacific Mountain Conference’s Pitcher of the Week, nearly nutted the umpire. Upon catcher Derek Doubrava asking if he was OK, the umpired replied, "Yeah, I flinched soon enough."
During the later game, the Geoducks struck first, scoring three runs in the first inning alone, which the Bobcats quickly answered, but the Geoducks scored two more in the third. In the fourth inning, Harrison-Smith hit a high pop to left field and managed to get to second base before the Bobcats’ defense got near the ball. As Trainor approached the plate, first base coach Dirk Kinsey shouted, "Hey, Ross! What would Jeremy do? WWJD!" Well, Trainor replied with a line drive to left field, sending Harrison-Smith home, and made it to third base. The Geoducks would score one more run, this time during the fifth inning when second basemen John Each’s hit sent outfielder Jeramy Villianos home, after Villianos had managed to steal third base.
The Geoducks face Central Oregon again May 1 and 2 in Bend, Ore. The team will take a breather this coming weekend, but will be back in action the following weekend when they host Western Washington University.
But last weekend’s losses were not for naught. Pitcher/head coach Sean Presley, who pitched the first game Sunday, has 12 record strikeouts – one less than the Bobcats’ Wilson – and has pitched more innings than anyone else in the league. In addition, Presley has a batting average of .333 and has stolen five bases, the third best record in the league. Pitcher Evan Kearley, who pitched Saturday, is only three slots behind Presley in most innings pitched, and Harrison-Smith is tied with four others for the next position. He and Each share the record for most at bats. It just goes to show that achievement isn’t always about winning the game.
While the Bobcats may have taller guys and Yankee-ish pinstripes, the team lacks that down-home sexy quality. Besides, no one can prance like a Geoduck.
And there’s that age-old adage of 'it’s not the size that matters, but how you use it.' The Geoducks may have lost, but they used it well.
Maybe it was Jasmine (the new bat), Kinsey’s announcer-style words of encouragement, or those tight pants.
As another spectator remarked, "I have my glasses on. I can see lots of things."
Yeah, dang hot!
Copyright © 2004, Talia M. Wilson
published in Cooper Point Journal, Feb. 26, 2004
since July 7, 2004.