Orioles season ends at district

The baseball season came to a close for the Glenns Ferry Orioles last Saturday (July 31) at the Class A Area B American Legion District Tournament at Capital High School in Boise.

The tournament started well enough for the Oriole team, made up of Glenns Ferry and Mountain Home baseball players, with wins over Eagle and Nampa, but then they came up against the hot hitting Boise Barons, and the Centennial Cannons, dooming their efforts for further post-season play.

Glenns Ferry 7

Eagle Vipers 4

The sixth-seeded Orioles opened the Area B District Tourney against 11-seeded Eagle on July 28, and got out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, as Scott Arellano singled and came home on a double by Brett Young.

The Vipers took the lead in the third inning, taking advantage of a throwing error to help them score two runs. A throwing error in the fourth also helped Eagle score two more runs, helped out by three hits off Orioles pitcher Scott Arellano in the inning.

Down 4-1 in their half of the fourth, Glenns Ferry took advantage of Viper pitcher Ben Blair's streak of wildness -- he walked three batters in the inning -- and put on a fine display of executing the suicide squeeze bunt, scoring three straight runs. The Orioles tallied four runs in the inning to regain the lead, 5-4.

Scott Arellano allowed just one hit the rest of the way, and five for the ball game, ending the night with eight strikeouts as the Orioles added single runs in the fifth and sixth to win it 7-4.

"That was a great game!" said Orioles head coach Denis Uhl after the ball game.

"Early in the game we missed some opportunities, as far as scoring, and messed up on executing, but the second half of the game, we started executing and the boys came through.

"Scott Arellano pitched one heck of a game and we had real good solid defense throughout the whole game. I was pleased with the way our boys came through tonight!"

Scott Arellano had three hits and knocked in a run. David Zito had two hits and an RBI, and Jeff Hernandez also had two hits. Brett Young had an RBI double, and Jason Simons also had a double.

Glenns Ferry 4

Nampa Braves 2

The third time was definitely the charm not only for the Orioles, but also for Glenns Ferry pitcher Jason Simons. The Braves had beaten Glenns Ferry both times during the regular season, with Simons getting the loss both times, errors doing him in, especially in the first game loss.

Simons struck out nine on the night, and was in control of the game, and had a shutout going into the seventh. A balk and an error led to two Braves' runs, but Simons struck out Frank Henderer to end the ball game, as Glenns Ferry won to advance to the quarter-finals against the Boise Barons.

Nampa pitcher Brody Jessup pitched a good game, but was his own worst enemy in the second inning, as two bad pick-off throws to first base helped the Orioles score their first two runs.

Glenns Ferry added single runs in the fifth and sixth inning, the latter coming without the benefit of a hit.

"Oh, my! That was a game all the way!" said a happy Coach Uhl after the game.

"These guys swept us during the season, and (Jason) Simons pitched both of those games, but I tell you what, at any level, if face somebody for three times and you don't learn, then you're not doing your job, and he learned.

"He set up the batters and stayed ahead in the count for most of the game and did a great job. Offensively, we executed some big plays. It was an all-around good team effort."

Michael DesPres had two hits and drove in a run, and Brett Young had an RBI single. Scott Arellano, Jason Simons, Brian Fields and Jeff Hernandez also had hits, Hernandez scored two runs.

Boise Barons 11

Glenns Ferry 1

The Orioles went up against a Baron team that had scored 29 runs in two games against them, but after beating Nampa for the first time the night before, were hoping to do the same against the Barons from Bishop Kelly.

The fact that the final game of six on the day had an 8:15 p.m. scheduled starting time, but due to other games running late, finally got underway shortly before 10 p.m., might have been an omen of what was to come.

Orioles starting pitcher Brian Fields helped his cause in the top of the first, singling home Scott Arellano for a 1-0 lead.

Fields yielded just two hits in the bottom half of the inning, but one of them was a two-run homer by T.J. Macy, and Glenns Ferry trailed 3-1 after an inning.

The score stayed that way until the fourth, with Brian Fields locked in a good pitching duel with the Barons' Josh Osich.

In the Barons' fourth, doubles by Nick Bratney and Michael Nelson plated two runs, and Steve Gray hit a Brian Fields pitch out of the yard for a two-run shot, and the Barons were up 7-1.

Aaron Swartz relieved Fields and got the final outs of the fourth, but had problems finding the plate in the fifth, walking four, as the Barons scored four runs to win the game 11-1 by the 10-run rule.

In radio comments after the game, Coach Uhl was impressed with the hitting of the Barons.

"I tell you what, Bishop Kelly just pounded the ball tonight. They had some ropes all game long. They had a total of eight hits, and we had two, and you're not going to win too many games on two hits. We had people in position to score, we just couldn't get any key hits."

Brian Fields and Jason Simons had the only hits for the Orioles against Josh Osich. The left-hander struck out 10, walked two and hit one batter in five innings of work.

Brian Fields suffered the loss, his third against four wins. He struck out four, walked three and hit one in 3 2/3 innings.

Centennial 8

Glenns Ferry 7

Going into the game with the Boise Barons, the Orioles were a win away from qualifying for State.

The loss to the Barons put Glenns Ferry in a situation on Saturday of having to win two straight to make State, starting with the Centennial Cannons.

The Orioles had their backs to the wall even more, when "The Big E" (error) reared it's head. The Cannons scored two unearned runs off Orioles starter Michael DesPres in the first.

Glenns Ferry got one of them back in the second, also helped out by an error, with Jeff Hernandez scoring on a sacrifice fly by Michael DesPres.

The Cannons got to Michael DesPres for five straight singles in the third, after two were out, to score three runs.

Another throwing error plated two more, and it was 7-1 after three.

Scott Arellano replaced DesPres on the mound in the fourth, and was greeted by two throwing errors that led to another Centennial run, making it 8-1 after four.

In the bottom half of the fifth the Glenns Ferry bats came alive as they got to Centennial starter Jake Smith for four runs on five hits, the big one a bases-clearing double by Jason Simons, cutting the Cannons' lead to 8-5.

In the bottom of the sixth, Glenns Ferry struck again, as Brett Young led off the inning with a triple, and came home on David Zito's double. Zito scored later in the inning to cut the deficit to 8-7.

Then came the bottom of the seventh. Jason Simons led off the inning with a single, and Brian Fields followed with a single, Simons stopping at second.

After Jeff Hernandez flied out, Brett Young drew a walk, loading the bases with one out.

David Zito batted next, and he had three hits already. Coach Uhl called for one of his favorite plays -- the suicide squeeze bunt.

Jason Simons charged for home from third as Zito squared to bunt the ball. Unfortunately the pitch was a bit out of the strike zone, and Zito was unable to make contact. Simons retreated to third, and the Cannon's catcher threw to third, where the umpire ruled the third baseman's tag beat Simons back to the bag.

There were now two outs, with runners at first and second. On the next pitch, Zito laced it down the third base line, the third baseman fielding it and beating the Orioles base runner to third for the force out to end the inning. Glenns Ferry's exciting comeback attempt came up short, 8-7.

Uhl was proud of the way his team battled back to make a game of it after falling behind early.

"We showed a little character in the last half of the ball game and gave a run at it, and were right there at the end. We had the opportunity at the end to tie it up and go ahead. Missed executions were the difference in the game."

Glenns Ferry had 12 hits in the ball game, with David Zito getting three, including an RBI double. Jason Simons had two hits, including his three-run double. Justin Case and Scott Arellano also had two hits each, Case an RBI double. Michael DesPres had a single and an RBI, Brett Young smacked a triple, and Brian Fields also had a hit.

The Orioles finish the season 23-15 in their first year of American Legion baseball.

Although hoping to go farther in the tournaments, Uhl was pleased with their first year accomplishments. "Overall, I'm real pleased at how we got this thing off the ground. We went into this in February not knowing how many guys from Mountain Home we were going to get, and we'd have like to get a few more numbers from there than we did, and from Glenns Ferry, too, but for the first season, I'm pleased."

"I hope next year we get more out and continue on and be more successful."