Aye-yi-yi! West Albany's Bulldogs took down Springfield, our #1 seed, 11-1. West Albany hammered out three home runs in the process. They have scored 10 or more runs at least 13 times. They scored 20 or more three times this season. Put it all together and the Bulldogs average 9.5 runs per game. And with all but one game score showing on the MaxPrep site, the Bulldogs have never been shut out or even held to just one run!
Defensively, the Bulldogs have really tightened up their game during the playoffs. They held Glencoe to just two runs and Pendleton to just one run.
That said, we do have a little MWL comparison to look at. Thurston beat West Albany 3-2 in the season opener. A week later the Bulldogs jumped on Willamette at Willamette, 10-2. Finally, North Eugene lost to West Albany 5-4 two weeks ago.
So what's in store for North Eugene in the semis? I'm thinking that North's defense will keep the Bulldogs within reach. That means that the Highlanders will need an offensive game more like the Corvallis (13-2) playoff game than the KU game (3-2). The Bulldogs like to jump on it early, so if North can get out of the first two innings in good shape, they can put some pressure on the West Albany defense. If North stays close they can get the small ball game going and then mix in some extra base hits.
It'll be interesting to see who goes to the mound for North on Tuesday. Kyle DeHaven pitched four innings against West Albany just two weeks ago and Garrett Harpole tossed three against the Bulldogs, allowing no hits. Just last week, Garrett Mills tossed four innings against Corvallis before turning the ball over to Chris Clayton in the fifth, Mills holding the number one team in the state to one run through four. Finally, Andrew Moore pitched a complete game last Friday, but has had three full days of rest. All pitchers are availalbe Tuesday and it's common in the state playoffs to see the same starter in the Friday-Tuesday- Saturday quarterfinal to final stretch. We'll find out at game time. I'm guessing Mills will start and coach Nicholsen will make early changes as he did with Corvallis and West Albany to give the Bulldogs lots of different looks.
Offensively for North, the Highlanders have been getting good production up and down the line up recently. That takes a lot of pressure off of the top of the order when they know the bottom four guys have been knocking in runs and hitting doubles and homers in the playoffs. The recent batting surge throughout the lineup also gives hope for a comeback if the Bulldogs do happen to jump out to a fairly large early lead. The Aslhand one inning comeback from six runs down agaisnt Thurston in the quarters serves as a reminder that with a little luck and some hard hit balls, you're never down too far.
....Coach Corey Nicholsen becomes only the second baseball coach in North Eugene's 53 year history to take the Highlanders to the state semifinals. Garry Selby pulled off the trick in 1977 and 1998. North fell short of the state championship game by one run both times. Hopefully, this is the Highlander's year, which would make 2010 the fourth year in a row that the MWL has sent a team to the state finals.
Go North. Go MWL.
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