With its 4-0 win over Lake Oswego, the team advances to play at state

PORTLAND — Murrayhill seemed to have it all.

Strong pitching – check.

Solid defense – check.

Timely hitting – check.

Having fun – check.

District championship – double check.

The Murrayhill Little League Majors (ages 11-12) baseball team was clicking on all cylinders as it battled its way to a 4-0 win over a talented Lake Oswego squad in the championship game of the District 4 Tournament, played Saturday at Alpenrose Stadium.

“Since we won it the past two years, we really wanted to defend our title,” said Murrayhill’s Nicholas Uchida, referring to the district crowns the team won at the ages 9-10 and 10-11 divisions over the last two years. “This was our last year, so we wanted to play our hardest.”

“We had great defense and hitting,” said Kyle Knell, who was the winning pitcher in Saturday’s district title tilt.

“We got on base, had a lot of fun and played good defense,” added Manuel Castineira.

Murrayhill, which went 5-0 at the District 4 Tournament, now advances to play in the Oregon State Tournament, which starts Saturday at the Centennial Little League fields, located off of 182nd and Southeast Division in Portland.

“It’s the same thing — we want to win it all again,” Uchida said of the upcoming state tournament.

“We want to win and keep going,” Knell said.

Murrayhill, in Saturday’s district title tilt, quickly grabbed the lead, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first inning.

“That lead helped a lot,” Murrayhill manager Grady McRae said.

Trey Lowe got things going for Murrayhill in the top of the first with a leadoff infield single. Knell followed up with an infield single of his own, with both he and Lowe moving up a base on a Lake Oswego throwing error on the play.

Then, with one out in the frame, Uchida ripped a single to center field, driving in both Lowe and Knell to give Murrayhill its early 2-0 advantage.

“That made things easier to come in and get this done,” Knell said of pitching with the 2-0 lead. “And I have a lot of confidence in our defense.”

Knell locked up with Lake Oswego’s hard-throwing Ben Shimota in a pitcher’s duel over the next handful of innings.

Lake Oswego threatened in the bottom of the second innings, putting runners on first and second with one out. But Knell coaxed back-to-back groundouts to Castineira, playing at first base, to end the threat.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lake Oswego again put runners on first and second with one out. This time, Knell got out of the jam unscathed with back-to-back strikeouts.

Persistent Lake Oswego threatened again in the fifth inning, loading the bases with two outs. But Uchida, pitching in relief, got an inning-ending groundout to Castineira to preserve Murrayhill’s 2-0 lead.

“The guys just kept their cool and relaxed,” McRae said. “They don’t get stressed out there.”

Murrayhill then came through with a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning.

Jake Bunn got things rolling with a leadoff infield single. Bunn advanced to second base on a passed ball and moved to third base on a wild pitch.

With two outs in the inning, and with Bunn still on third base, Zach Staley drew a walk, and he then proceeded to steal second base.

Castineira then drilled a clutch single to left field, plating both Bunn and Staley to up the Murrayhill lead to 4-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning.

Uchida then put Lake Oswego down in order in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the final out of the game coming on a groundout to Bunn at third base.

“That was fun,” Uchida said of getting the title-clinching final out.

“I’m proud of the kids,” McRae said. “Lake Oswego is a great team. This whole district tournament is very tough.”

Knell, pitching the first four and a third innings for Murrayhill in the district title tilt, gave up no runs on two hits while striking out six and walking four. Uchida, pitching the final inning and two-thirds, gave up no runs on one hit while striking out one and walking one.

Murrayhill had six base hits in the contest, one each by Lowe, Knell, Uchida, Callan McRae, Bunn and Castineira.

For Lake Oswego, Shimota allowed two runs on four hits while striking out nine and walking one in four and a third innings pitched.

Murrayhill will open play at the nine-team, double-elimination state tournament Saturday when it faces Ashland in a first-round game starting at 3 p.m.

Other players for the Murrayhill team include Reece Gregory, Joe Ball, Mark Ellertson, Yuta Sakai and Tanner Dawson. Brian Bunn and Derek Staley are the team’s coaches.