Baseball: Huge 2nd inning powers Oregon past Amboy

OREGON – A 10-run second inning. A strong all-around defensive effort.

Oregon had all the answers against Amboy on Thursday in a 12-1, five-inning nonconference win.

The Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and didn’t let up.

[ Photos: Amboy vs Oregon baseball ]

“I think our starting pitcher, Bryce Becker, came out, he dealed all day,” Oregon junior right fielder Logan Weems said. “The defense was backing him up. It was a great overall ballgame.”

“Honestly, I feel like our defense is probably one of the best in the conference, so I wasn’t really nervous. I just threw strikes,” Becker said. “And I knew they’d back me up.”

Sophomore catcher Keaton Salsbury led off with a single on a 2-2 count to initiate the first-inning rally, then stole second and third base while Weems was up to bat. Weems grounded out to score Salsbury for the first run.

Amboy senior pitcher Landon Montavon induced a groundout to end the first inning, but the game quickly slipped away.

Oregon’s Becker worked a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second. Then the offensive explosion happened.

Sophomore second baseman Jackson Messenger ignited the 10-run inning with a two-run single, and later scored on a botched play at first base. Weems followed with a two-run double, then junior center fielder Gavin Morrow ripped an RBI single and junior left fielder Avery Lewis crushed an RBI double.

Up next, Messenger drew a walk, and Lewis stole third and scored the 10th run on an errant pickoff attempt while sophomore third baseman Nole Campos was up to bat. After a pitching change, Messenger stole home on another errant pickoff attempt for an 11-0 lead.

“We feed off each other a lot,” Weems said. “Once we get two or three hits, it’s like everybody improves 10 times more than they already are and everybody’s coming down and hits the ball well.”

In the bottom of the third inning, junior shortstop Jack Washburn blasted a triple deep into right field, then scored on an error during the same play for a 12-0 lead.

“When we’re able to get the hits going, our team, we just get excited and we’re able to score a lot of runs,” Becker said. “The last game we played, too, we got hyped in the first inning and we blew them out.”

The Clippers scored their only run in the top of the fourth. Montavon drew a leadoff walk, left fielder Caleb Shugars was hit by a pitch, and junior center fielder Eddie Jones reached on an error in consecutive at-bats. Designated hitter Austin Shugars then scored Montavon on a sacrifice fly.

Weems finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs, and Lewis went 2 for 2 with a walk and one RBI.

Becker pitched three hitless, shutout innings for the win and struck out two with four walks.

Chase Montavon had the only hit for Amboy.

Carson Barlow tossed three strikeouts in a row and allowed two hits and one unearned run in 2 1/3 innings on the mound for the Clippers.

“I think ultimately for us, we talked about the fact that our mental approach to the game wasn’t really there,” Amboy coach Chris Tidmore said. “I guess it’s one of those days where we were a little short-staffed today with some illnesses, and we just didn’t play to the best of our potential today and made some mental mistakes, and that killed us.”