With rain clouds threatening on a less than ideal day for baseball, the Bruin boys varsity baseball team played their second home post-season playoff game Friday afternoon, hosting the #5 ranked, 10-2 Santiam Christian Eagles.
The Eagles, who traveled from just north of Corvalis, opened up play Friday afternoon at the plate, facing junior right-hander Seth Valliere, #15, on the mound for the Bruins, and wasted no time getting runners on the basepaths. The Eagle offense started with a double to left field, a single and two walks to score 2 runs, before adding another run off an infield Bruin error to jump out to a 0-3 lead. The Bruin top of the order would go down in order off of three routine infield grounders, putting the Eagles back on offense.
The Bruins Valliere struck out the first Eagle batter of the top of the second inning, but the Eagles worked a Bruin infield error off of an Eagle bunt, an intentional walk and three singles to work four more runs across the plate, expanding their lead to 0-7. The Bruin offense would fight back in the bottom of the second after sophomore Spencer Rosenberg reached base on an Eagle infield error to get the Bruins first baserunner on first. A hit batsman and a walk would load the bases for the Bruins with two outs before a strike-out would end the Bruin threat.
Bruin head couch relieved Valliere with sophomore left-hander Ethan Orman, #22, who would walk the first Eagle batter of the third inning and then put a second on after being hit, Santiam Christian would get another run across the plate giving the Eagles a comfortable 0-8 lead. The Bruin offense would then go down in order on 13 pitches on an infield fly and two grounders.
In the top of the fourth, Orman would settle in on the mound after walking the first batter, but getting a double play to end the threat, and retiring the hot Eagle offense in order. Senior shortstop Jason DeShon would step into the batters box to start the bottom of the fourth with a double to right center. DeShon would advance to third on a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly by Spencer Rosenberg would score DeShon for the Bruins first run off of their second base-runner of the ball game.
Orman would walk one in the top of the fifth, but would go on to retire the side in 13 pitches off of ground out to third, a pop-out to right, and four pitch swinging strike-out. But the Bruin bats just could not catch up to Eagle pitching, going down again in order in the Bruin offensive half of the fifth.
The Bruin defense and Orman would keep the Bruins in the game in the late innings, keeping Eagle runners off the base-paths, holding them scoreless in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. But the Bruin bats just could not string any offense together to cut the lead, going down quietly in the sixth and seventh, effectively ending their play-off run, falling in their final game of the 2022 season 1-8.
