CASTLE ROCK — The Dog Days of Summer kept a short-staffed Rural Baseball Inc. group down, quiet, and mistake prone in the early innings of its evening against Lower Columbia Single-A on Thursday, but as the game wore on, the temperature rose, and it had nothing to do with the sun.
A couple of contentious calls by the umpires, a few volleys of chatter back and forth between the dugouts, and one misheard bit of coaching taken by the other team as criticism built up the tension on the field, and when it mattered most the Dirtbags rose to the occasion, coming back from a late deficit before ultimately holding on to win 9-8.
“Every one of these guys on this team will compete, and they’ll bring it every single day,” RBI coach J.C. Workman said. “That’s why they’re here. They’ve got the dog in them, they want to win.”
After dropping five runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 9-6 lead, RBI immediately let LCBC set the table with a one-out hit batter, followed by a single. Hunter Gutenberger (Rainier, Ore.) threw a runner out at third on a pitch in the dirt, but two singles brought a pair of runs home and put the tying run on second.
A third single gave LCBC a chance, but Connor Darnell (Kalama) threw a strike from left field to get the would-be tying run out at the plate to end it.
“When we do the little things right, good things are going to happen,” Workman said.
RBI only was in the situation thanks to its big inning in the bottom of the sixth, which came with LCBC’s help.
After a single brought one run home, the Dirtbags loaded the bases for Dom Rowland (W.F. West), who drove two runs in on a single and just kept running as Lower Columbia threw the ball around in the outfield, letting four score on the little-league grand slam.
“We’ve got to have the same energy we had in the sixth and seventh innings all game long,” Workman said. “If we play like that, no one’s going to beat us.”
Rowland finished 2 for 4 with a triple and two runs scored. Toledo’s Gavin Frewing added a pair of hits of his own.
Frewing started the game on the mound and worked into the fourth inning before running into trouble. Tre Groninger (Oakville) got the Dirtbags out of the fourth — they’d get a run back to tie it at 4-4 come the end of the frame — before seeing the rest of the game out, maintaining a running dialogue with the opposing team and coaching staff just about the whole time.
RBI had no such drama or issue in the second game of the evening’s twin bill, run-ruling LCBC 10-0 in six innings. Keaton Thompson threw a shortened shutout, allowing just one hit.
