By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
WOODBURN, Ore.– North Marion’s Marcos Marquez found himself in a pressure cooker situation pitching to The Berries American Legion Single-A squad on Wednesday evening at Woodburn High School.
The Post 58 Single-A squad had loaded up the bases down 4-1 to The Berries with one out and were looking to try to cash in and see if they could complete the comeback.
For the Post 58 squad, they had stabilized The Berries bats after the Berries jumped out to a 4-0 lead going into the bottom half of the third inning.
Incoming Woodburn senior Collin Spurgeon came in during the fourth inning in relief of McNary’s Isaac Bailey. Spurgeon went four innings of one-hit baseball and struck out eight batters that halted the Berries offense and made it into more of a pitcher’s duel with Marquez during the second half of the game.
Playing in probably the toughest league in the State, let alone in 5A in the Mid-Willamette Conference, this past Spring molded Spurgeon and it’s something that he is hoping to carry over into the Summer and into next Spring with the Bulldogs.
“The guys that we faced in that league are just top notch. Guys who are going to college right after this and being able to face that quality of players and bringing that into games this Summer, it definitely helped with that experience,” said Spurgeon. “It’s just coming off from the Spring and getting back at it pitching. I wanted to set the tone and give our guys a chance to swing the bats.”
And the Post 58 Single-A bats came around. They cut the deficit to 4-1 going into the fifth with a run in the bottom half of the fourth. Stephen Carlgren hit a double to make it happen.
Eventually they got themselves into that bases loaded situation in the bottom half of the seventh inning with one out. Marquez struck out Spurgeon for out number two, it was one of nine strikeouts that the incoming Huskie senior had.
Luis Apodaca ripped a deep single that drove two in and brought the tying run to second. It was 4-3 The Berries leading.
But before Post 58 could totally swing momentum into their favor, Marquez got the last out via strikeout to seal the one-run league victory on Wednesday.
“It’s definitely a big one. It was really just confidence. I tried not to let them on base a lot and staying consistent as always, doing it for the team. It’s all really a team effort at the end of the day, we’re just here to win,” starts Marquez. “(The strong start to the game) really gave us a boost from the start. That was definitely helpful and it kept the momentum going, that definitely stuck with us as a team. That was really helpful from the beginning.”
Mason Wachter drove in a team-high 3RBI’s for the team and Porter Nelson led The Berries with three hits in the victory.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
