No. 11 Barlow does it again, downing No. 22 Lakeridge 7-1 in opening round of 2024 state tournament

History doesn’t always repeat itself.

But, if you get some strong pitching, timely hitting and clutch defense, there’s a good chance you can enjoy that winning feeling again – just ask the No. 11 Barlow High School baseball team.

The Bruins, who, a year ago, opened the Class 6A state playoff with a 1-0 first-round win at Lakeridge, started the 2024 state playoffs with a 7-1 victory against the No. 22 Pacers in a first round game played Monday at Barlow High School.

“This is pretty big, especially having to face them in the first round last year, and again this year,” said Barlow junior River Hamilton, who recorded nine strikeouts in pitching the Bruins to the victory. “It’s a little weird, but we’re on the other side. We’re not the underdogs this time. We didn’t have a lot of pressure on us. It was easier to just come out and do our thing.”

That’s right. Last year, Barlow was the underdog in the matchup against third-seeded Lakeridge, while this year the Bruins we’re the higher seed in the clash with the Pacers – and they seemed to embrace that role in the first-round contest.

“I think it went great,” said Barlow freshman shortstop Amari Reynolds, who had two hits and two RBIs in the victory. “We had my guy, River, throwing for us, and we got the bats going. The boys had a whole lot of energy going, and we were ready to win the ball game.”

With the victory, Barlow, the Mt. Hood Conference champion, improved to 17-8 on the season. The Bruins also advance to the second round of the state playoffs, where they’ll travel to face Westview on Wednesday. Barlow looks to take a lot of confidence into that game.

“We’re looking pretty good,” Hamilton said. “This is the best baseball we’ve played in years – in a long time. I think we have a real chance, as long as we stay consistent and hitting like we should. We have a real shot.”

The young Lakeridge team, with just two seniors on the roster, finished its season at 13-15.

“This year was a lot of fun. We played well, and, next year, we’ll be super good,” said Lakeridge junior first baseman Tyson Truong, who had two hits and scored the Pacers’ run in the playoff tilt.

The energized Barlow squad, playing in front of an enthusiastic home crowd, looked fired-up and ready to go right from the start of the postseason contest.

“We came in here mentally prepared,” Reynolds said. “We prepared all week – the whole season, really. Our coach (Brady Burdick), we couldn’t ask for a better coach, he’s always texting us, mentally preparing us.”

That preparation paid off in the bottom of the first inning. Reynolds got things started with a leadoff single to right field. He moved all the way to third when Lakeridge committed an error on a sacrifice bunt by junior Dylan Sheaffer. Reynolds then scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Ransom Lorenzen, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

“It was great, having my guy, Ransom, there,” Reynolds said. “You couldn’t ask for a better three-hole hitter. He’s a very reliable guy.”

Barlow, and Reynolds, struck again in the bottom of the second inning.

With two outs in the frame, and with junior Brodan Curtiss on third base and junior Kiyoshi Kiyokawa on second, Reynolds laced a two-run double over first base and down the right-field line, upping the Bruins’ lead to 3-0.

“It was centimeters,” Reynolds said of how close his hit was to being a foul ball. “It was right off the bag. I was just looking to find any kind of hole there was.”

Barlow, looking to score any way it could, tallied three more runs in the bottom of the third inning. Sophomore Kai Meyer came home from third on a fielder’s choice grounder by Kiyokawa. Junior Cole Schmidt scored when senior Liam Oltean was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Kiyokawa scored on a wild pitch, upping the margin to 6-0.

Lakeridge tried to battle back in the top of the fourth. Truong, leading off the frame, reached base on an infield single. He ended up scoring, cutting the lead to 6-1, when junior Jack Barss drew a bases-loaded walk with one out in the inning.

“It was good,” Truong said. “It doesn’t really matter if we don’t win, but it still feels good.”

The Pacers, with the bases still loaded and one out, had the chance to do some more damage, but Hamilton struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam.

That seemed to be a reoccurring theme late in the game, with Lakeridge threatening, but Barlow denying the Pacers any more runs.

In the top of the fifth, with two outs and runners on second and third, Sheaffer, playing at first base, made a spectacular leaping snag of a hard-hit line drive off the bat of Lakeridge junior Jake Kotansky, likely saving two runs.

Then, in the seventh, with no outs and runners on first and second, Curtiss, playing at third base, started a clutch 5-4-3 double play.

“It was great,” Reynolds said of the defensive effort. “We’re very confident in our defense.”

“We’ve got great defense behind me,” Hamilton said. “We can usually rely on each other. I really trust our defense.”

Hamilton, in getting the pitching win, gave up one run on seven hits in 6.2 innings. He had just one walk.

“It went pretty good,” he said. “I was attacking the zone a lot. I didn’t walk very many, which gave our defense chances to make the plays.”

Meyer took over in relief with two outs in the top of the seventh and got the final out on a pop-out.

The Bruins had nine hits in the victory. Schmidt and Reynolds had two hits apiece. Kiyokawa scored two runs to go with his one hit. Oltean had a double and an RBI.

“This was really fun,” Hamilton said with a smile. “It’s more fun when you’re there playing in a competitive game.”

For Lakeridge, Truong reached base three times, having two hits and getting hit by a pitch.

“He’s a good pitcher. It’s just frustrating, because it’s hard to do anything when someone is pitching so well,” Truong said. “We’re a young team. We still have a lot to learn. We knew he’s good and there was a lot of stress coming into it, and we don’t have that much experience.”

Junior Wyatt Minto also had two hits for the Pacers. Sophomore Jaden Tragessor hit a double and junior Lukas McLeroy was twice hit by a pitch.

Junior Charlie Peterson was effective on the mound in relief for the Pacers, giving up one earned run on three hits while striking out three and walking two in 3.2 innings of work.

“More than half of our team didn’t have any playoff experience, so I think we learned a lot heading into the offseason,” Truong said. “There’s also the feeling of losing in the first round. We’ll be thinking about that.”