After an impressive first few weeks of the season, the Tualatin baseball team jumped up to No. 3 in the most recent OSAA coaches poll, as of our press deadline.
A big reason for the early season success has been strong pitching, according to Tualatin Coach Jacob Austin.
“We have a lot of confidence in our pitching,” Austin said. “Pretty much everybody that we’ve wheeled out there has been competitive and given us a chance and shown that they can have success at this level. It’s pretty fun when you put guys out there that have the ability that our guys have and give our team the confidence to play behind them.”
That was perhaps not more evident than in a thrilling early season win on the road in Sandy on April 3, when the Timberwolves knocked off Sandy, 3-2, in 14 innings.
Junior Cole Newton started and held Sandy to two runs over six innings. With the game tied at two, junior Trenton Hertzog came in and held Sandy scoreless over seven innings in relief, and he struck out 17 batters in those seven innings. Senior Jordan Araiza finished out the last inning on the mound for Tualatin.
The win featured another common occurrence from Tualatin’s early season success this year: a big hit by senior catcher Isaac Pfeifer.
“He’s been the backbone for us offensively so far,” Austin said. “He’s been hot at the plate pretty much the entire season.”
In the win against Sandy, Pfeifer broke the 2-2 tie when he crushed a triple off the center field fence to bring home Ben Fong in the top of the 14th and put Tualatin ahead for the win.
The senior was an all-Three Rivers League First Team catcher last year and was named an honorable mention for the all-state team, and is committed to play for University of Portland after high school.
While Pfeifer has been the most consistent at the plate this year, Austin said Tualatin has received strong play up and down the lineup at different times from different players.
“Everybody steps up on different days and different times,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of different guys contribute and help us.”
Some of the other players he said have been key contributors this year include Araiza and Hertzog. He also said the team’s lone freshman, Mehki Pressley, has had a solid start to the year, along with seniors Brayden Buck and Keegan Krahnke, who Austin said has provided a spark for the team out of the nine hole.
If Tualatin wants to make a deep run and compete for a state title, chances are the Timberwolves will have to get through Three Rivers League rival West Linn. Tualatin’s season last year ended in the state quarterfinals against West Linn, which then went on to win its third straight state title.
“We’ve just go to play real clean baseball,” Austin said. “You can’t give them any breaks. You’ve got to bring it to make the routine plays. Pitchers have to throw strikes and make their pitchers work. Overall, we have to keep playing with confidence and go out and play to our potential.”
