Tiger baseball opens Bucks Bags with two wins
Run production high for Ontario
By Scott Ford
Argus Observer
Friday, March 28, 2008 10:58 AM PDT
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| Scott Ford | Argus Observer
Ontario’s Josh Mejia slides safely into third base during the Tigers’ opening game of the Bucks Bags Spring Classic against Caldwell High School at Rodeo Park in Nampa Thursday. Ontario defeated Caldwell 8-3 . |
Nampa — The Ontario Tiger baseball team opened the Bucks Bags Spring Classic with back-to-back wins.
In the opening game against Caldwell High School, the Tigers pounded out nine hits for eight runs in their 8-3 win.
Then in the second game of the tournament, Ontario beat Hood River, 8-5.
Against Caldwell, Ontario plated a run in the bottom the first inning to tie the game at 1, but in the top of the third Caldwell punched two runs across the plate for the 3-1 lead.
Then in the home half of the third inning, Ontario added two runs to tie the game at 3, and in the fifth inning, the Tigers added three more runs for the 6-3 lead.
In the sixth inning, Ontario plated its final two runs of the game for the 8-3 win.
Ryan Laubacher pitched a complete game in the win.
In the second game, against Hood River, the Tigers were the visiting team and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on four first-inning hits.
Ontario added two more runs in the second on two hits and led 4-0 early.
Hood River scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning to cut the lead to 4-1.
Four more singles in the top of the third gave Ontario three more runs and increased its lead to 7-1, and Hood River responded with one run in the home half of the inning that ended all scoring until the seventh inning.
In the final frame, the Tigers added another run on a pair of hits for an 8-2 lead.
Hood River tried to make a comeback in its final at bat with four hits and three runs and left runners stranded at second and third base.
Leading the Tigers at the plate was Matt Anthony, going 3-for-4 in the game. Jake Davidson led the team in RBIs with three, while Laubacher contributed two.
Guillermo Garcia went the distance on the mound, giving up five runs on six hits while striking out six and walking five.
“We hit the ball well today,” Ontario head coach Les Horn said. “Our pitching was solid.”
Horn said he thought the competition would have been a little better because both schools are bigger than Ontario.
“It just goes to show that we can play with anybody,” Horn said.
The Tigers put up 16 runs in the first two games of the Bucks Bags Spring Classic, and Horn said that was good, but it was not what the teams goal is.
“Our goal is to score 10 runs a game,” he said. “We have the assets to do it, and the kids believe in the style of ball we are playing.”
