By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
KEIZER, Ore.– The Post 20 Dirtbags Single-A American Legion squad used a spurt in the fourth and fifth innings to get themselves back into contention Monday evening against the Post 58 Single-A Mac’s.
Trailing the Mac’s 9-0 going into the fourth inning at McNary High School, The Dirtbags Single-A squad wheeled off four runs to trail the Post 58 squad 9-4 going into the bottom half of the fifth inning.
A young squad, it was a good learning experience for the Post 20 squad just playing their second game of the season.
“All of our guys can hit really well. We are undersized and younger than a lot of guys around here. We have a great group of guys putting in effort. They want to come in and get better and play,” said Post 20 Coach Ethan Patterson. “We can really hit the baseball. We just got to work on pitching and defense a little bit more. I think that what slipped away from us was our pitching at the end. We left a lot of guys on base, I think that’s one improvement. Batting and situational hitting.
“We’ve improved…second game and they competed with an older group that’s going to be top dogs in league.”
The Macs, coming into Monday’s home league contest riding a four-game winning streak, weren’t going away without a fight. They refocused, they picked up their energy, and began pulling away. Post 58 scored four more runs over the course of the fifth and sixth innings to put away a hard fought 13-4 victory for their fifth-straight win.
“I felt like we had a lot of energy. I always feel like we bring up the energy once they’re getting closer,” said McNary’s Rayden Bryant, who drove in four runs in the victory. “(The win’s) really big, it improves our mood throughout the week and all that.”
The Macs are on the road Tuesday against West Albany’s Single-A squad while the Post 20 Dirtbags Single-A squad will head to play Corvallis on Thursday in Corvallis.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
