By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
MOUNT ANGEL, Ore.–Taft’s Zach Hankins once again showed why he is one of the top arms in the State of Oregon Thursday afternoon when the Tigers traveled out to play Kennedy in Mount Angel.
The senior, a University of Oregon-commit, kept the Trojan bats guessing and off their game. Through the first five innings of the game, he held Kennedy to one hit and his offense awarded him with two runs for his work on the mound with Taft leading 2-0 going into the sixth inning.
After graduating nine seniors from last year’s 3A State Semi-Final team, the Tigers haven’t missed a beat. And they’re entering the 3A playoffs sitting 25-1 and looking for a similar deep run this year.
“It’s way different from last year…we are pretty young. I never really played with any of these guys until this year, so just building that trust has been big,” Hankins said. “We’re just playing our type of baseball. Executing and getting bunts down, just playing fundamental ball.”
And that trust came in big late in the sixth and the seventh innings.
That 2-0 lead seemed like it could be enough with how Hankins was pitching and how his defense was playing, but the Trojans were in a similar boat. The only difference was that Taft was able to piece enough together to get runs across when they needed to.
Kennedy threatened however. They got the bases loaded on in the sixth with two outs, but couldn’t get a run home before that final out of the inning. Jake Beyer, who came in relief for Brody Panuke during the sixth, continued what Panuke started and the Trojans continued to add that pressure on the Tigers defense in the bottom half of the seventh inning.
They got two on with one out and were pushing Hankins pitch count up to the point where the Tigers almost went to the bullpen. Hankins was able to shut the door when he needed to. He picked up a strikeout, his 15th on the day, for out number two before forcing a groundball that James Tolan turned into the final out of the game.
“Our third baseman, James, made an error to start the inning and let the guy on. I had complete faith in him to make that final play, just continue to trust my teammates,” said Hankins.
“Those last two innings were electric, they were definitely fun. We almost had it, our bats finally came alive, it was fun,” adds Panuke.
It was a good tune-up game for both teams as they embark in what they’re hoping to be a deep playoff run in 3A for the Tigers and 2A/1A for the Trojans. Facing some adversity points Panuke as Kennedy enters the postseason 24-3 on the year.
“They got us ready. That was a good challenge to see before the playoffs, seeing a little bit of adversity before the playoffs…a little chip on our shoulder going in,” Panuke said.
Panuke finished the day with eight strikeouts in five-and-a-third-innings while collecting a hit at the plate. Landen Kline led the Trojan offense with two hits on the day. Lonnie West and Tolan each led the Tigers with two hits each.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
