The local all-stars now take their best shot at the Western Regionals

SALEM – Murrayhill left nothing to chance and left no one standing in their way at the 2012 Oregon State Junior Baseball tournament.

The Murrayhill Juniors all-stars (ages 13-14) won four straight games at the tournament, held July 14-19 at Holland Youth Park, and in the process, also won a berth to the upcoming Western Regional Tournament. That event opens Wednesday and continues through Aug. 8 at Propstra Stadium in Vancouver, Wash.

“The team is very excited to extend the season,” said Murrayhill manager Craig Nelsen. “Our goal is to get to the semifinal game … (and we're) working hard this week to prepare for our first game against Nevada.”

Murrayhill opened state tournament play with a 9-8 win over Reynolds on July 14, then hammered Grants Pass National 11-1 on July 15 to win its pool.

Next, Murrayhill – the lone team out of District 4 at the Juniors level – knocked off St. Helens 9-3 in the tournament semifinal on July 18, and finally, dispatched Salem's Parrish 2-1 in the championship on July 19.

We have “a bunch of talented, unselfish players who play hard with every opportunity they get,” Nelsen said. “There are no strong personalities but more of a cohesive bunch that plays well together.”

In the win over Parrish in the title contest, the Salem champs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with two hits off Murrayhill starter Tony Johnson, but wouldn't score again. Johnson, pressed into a starting role after Cortlandt Nelsen was hit by a pitch in the semifinal and relegated to relief, didn't allow another hit and gave his team ample time to break through.

“He pitched 5-1/3 (innings) of the best pitching of his career,” Craig Nelsen said. “He threw heat and kept the ball down which limited Parrish to two hits.”

Offensively, Murrayhill broke through to tie the score in the top of the third when Bryce Roesch singled with two outs, took second on a passed ball, third on a Cortlandt Nelsen hit and scored on Jacob Calo's single.

Murrayhill then got the clincher in the sixth when Trace Hokkanen walked with one out and teammates Luke Hustler and Yuki Furutaka followed with back-to-back singles that gave their team a 2-1 edge.

There was a bit more excitement to come in the seventh when Parrish put runners on first and second with no outs, but Cortlandt Nelsen notched a strikeout, Furutaka threw out a runner at third, and Nelsen got a pop-up to seal the victory.

We “rely on extreme hustle, grit and sound fundamentals to meet our challenges,” Craig Nelsen said. “The way we play will be blue collar through and through."

Murrayhill's lineup also includes Kaleo Basconcillo, Nick Hald, Tyler Johnson, Ryan Lambert, Seth Seaton, and coaches Brett Roesch and Chris Seaton.

Murrayhill opens play in the Western Regional Tournament on Wednesday with a 10 a.m. game against the Nevada representative at Propstra Stadium, 1206 E Reserve St. in Vancouver.

Additional pool play games include Murrayhill vs. Idaho at 10 a.m. Aug. 3, Murrayhill vs. Southern California at 4 p.m. Aug. 4, and Murrayhill vs. Montana at 4 p.m. Aug. 5.

The top two teams in each of the tournament's two six-team pools will advance to the Regional semifinals at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Aug. 7, while the tournament's third-place and championship contests are due at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Aug. 8.

“Not too many gave us much of a chance to win state so I am sure those same people think the same of our chances at the Western Regional,” Craig Nelsen said. But “we like playing the role of the underdog. It suits us and the personality of our team just fine.”

In the win over St. Helens, Murrayhill poured across nine runs in the game's first two innings, with Calo doubling in the first while Hustler and Furutaka adding key singles in the second. Seaton and Nelsen scattered seven hits in the victory and struck out seven.

Against Grants Pass, Cortlandt Nelsen, Calo and Lambert had two hits each, and Calo gave up just three hits and didn't walk a batter.

In the opener vs. Reynolds, it took a bases-loaded triple by Lambert in the fifth to finally push Murrayhill over the top. Roesch finished with three doubles, and Lambert and Tyler Johnson had two hits each.