Taft High made short work of visiting Clatskanie in an 11-1 five-inning Special District 2 league playoff victory Thursday that set the stage for next week’s Class 3A State baseball playoffs.
Sophomore Fco Ramos doubled and tripled, drove home two runs and scored twice for Taft behind senior starter and winner Bleiz Kimbrough as the Tigers erupted for seven runs in the first inning.
“We came out aggressive and looking to get a victory tonight,” Taft coach Matt Hilgers said. “We took any wind they had out of their sails the first inning by putting up seven runs. We need to have this energy and mindset heading into next week.”
Junior Eli DeMello, who pitched the final inning in relief for Taft, also had two hits and joined Ramos, Kimbrough and junior Lucas Hindman by scoring twice in a game shortened to five innings by the state’s five-run mercy rule.
The ninth-ranked Tigers, who placed third in SD2 play this season, improved to 16-10 with the win, while No. 21 Clatskanie finished 7-18.
Taft is awaiting its State playoff fate when the 16-team tournament starts Wednesday afternoon.
“We will be looking at addressing some of our mistakes that were made tonight over the next few practices,” Hilgers said. “We have to wait and see what happens with some games to see where we will be headed next week.”
Taft 11, Clatskanie 1 (5 innings) CLATSKANIE AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI Luke Roth 3 1 2 0 Trenton Fisher 3 0 1 1 Jackson Boothe 3 0 0 0 Eli DeMello 2 2 2 0 Dawson Evenson 3 0 2 0 Cody Knott 4 1 1 0 Cade Warren 2 0 0 0 Tyee Fisher 4 1 1 0 Foster Evenson 2 0 0 1 Bleiz Kimbrough 2 2 1 1 Andre Combs 2 0 1 0 Fco Ramos 2 2 2 2 Chase Baker 2 0 0 0 Darius Smith 2 1 0 1 Sam Shockley 2 0 0 0 Lucas Hindman 2 2 1 1 Nik George 2 0 0 0 Kaden Hindman 2 0 0 2 TOTALS 21 1 5 1 TOTALS 23 11 9 8 CLATSKANIE 001 00 -- 1 TAFT 701 21 -- 11 LOB--CLATSKANIE 7, TAFT 7. E--Andre Combs, Dawson Evenson, Chase Baker, Fco Ramos, Cody Knott. 2B--Fco Ramos, Trenton Fisher. 3B--Fco Ramos. HBP--Lucas Hindman, Eli DeMello. SACF--Kaden Hindman. SB--Dawson Evenson, Tyee Fisher, Lucas Hindman (4). CLATSKANIE IP H R ER BB SO HR Cade Warren (L) 0.33 3 5 5 2 0 0 Andre Combs 4.33 6 6 4 4 3 0 TAFT Bleiz Kimbrough (W) 4.00 4 1 1 2 3 0 Eli DeMello 1.00 1 0 0 0 0 0 PB--Cade Warren. WP--Cade Warren (2), Andre Combs, Eli DeMello. BALK--Cade Warren, Andre Combs (2). SO--Nik George, Cade Warren, Andre Combs, Tyee Fisher (2), Darius Smith. BB--Foster Evenson, Cade Warren, Bleiz Kimbrough (2), Fco Ramos, Eli DeMello, Trenton Fisher, Darius Smith.
