The Majors team earns a berth in bracket play at the tournament

PORTLAND — A strong start wasn’t enough to offset one displeasing half inning.

But that didn’t bring down the spirits of the Tigard Little League Majors (ages 11-12) all-star baseball team playing at the District 4 Tournament.

Tigard, after falling 12-2 to Southwest Portland in a tournament pool play opener on Saturday, bounced back to score a 16-1 pool play victory over Cedar Mill on Sunday on its way to earning a berth to the single-elimination bracket portion of the tournament being held at Alpenrose Dairy.

“This is a good group of kids,” Tigard assistant coach Jason Goetz said after Saturday’s game. “They’ve been playing together over the past three years. Some of them have been playing together since kindergarten.”

Tigard was scheduled to face Beaverton Area Little League in a tournament quarterfinal game on Wednesday. Results of that game were not available when the Times went to press.

If Tigard won its game on Wednesday, it will face Lake Oswego tonight (Thursday) in a tournament semifinal set to start at 7:30 p.m. at Alpenrose.

Tigard, in Saturday’s tourney opener, got off to a strong start behind the pitching of Manuel Andrade, who got the start on the mound.

Andrade pitched two and two-thirds perfect innings, retiring all eight batters he faced, including six by strikeout.

Meanwhile, Tigard jumped out to a quick lead, getting a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Micah O’Donnell and Nicholas Heinke drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. Brandt Goetz followed with a double to right-center field, driving in both O’Donnell and Heinke to give Tigard an early 2-0 lead.

Tigard had a chance to do more damage in the opening frame, as Andrade singled and Jake Leavitt was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. But Southwest Portland starting pitcher Matthew Lang recorded back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the jam and end the inning.

Tigard had an opportunity to add to its lead in the bottom of the third inning. Tristan Kelleher singled to left field to lead off the inning. With one out in the frame, Sam Pittmon reached base on an error. Leavitt then singled to center field to load the bases.

But Southwest Portland was again able to escape, as a hard-hit line out and a strikeout ended the inning.

Southwest Portland then struck for a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2.

Southwest Portland then stormed into the lead, scoring 10 runs in the top of the fifth inning to go up 10-2.

Matthew Lang and Garret Leeper each had a two-run double for Southwest Portland in the big inning and Dawson Jaramillo added a two-run single.

Tigard tried to battle back in its half of the fifth. Andrade led off the inning with an infield single and, after Southwest Portland turned a double play, Leavitt drew a walk. But the towering Jaramillo, pitching in relief for Southwest Portland, notched a game-ending strikeout.

“We jumped out strong,” Jason Goetz said. “But, in the end, Southwest Portland put the bat on the ball and moved the runners around.”

Tigard had five hits in the contest. Andrade had two of those hits while Brandt Goetz, Kelleher and Leavitt added one hit apiece. Leavitt reached base on all three of his plate appearances as he also drew a walk and was hit by a pitch.

In the win over Cedar Mill, Tigard relied on a strong team effort, with every player having a key play or key hit.

Andrade blasted a grand slam home run in the victory and Justin Grant added a home run of his own.

Heinke started on the mound for Tigard and turned in a solid outing.

Tigard ended its pool play schedule Monday with an 8-4 loss, in seven innings, to Lake Oswego, which went 3-0 in pool play games.

Tigard and Lake Oswego battled back and forth throughout the contest. Brandt Goetz made a diving catch in the top of the sixth inning to help preserve a 4-4 tie and send the game to extra innings.

Lake Oswego scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to go up 8-4. Goetz singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh, but Lake Oswego was able to come up with an impressive double play to help it get the win.

The District 4 Tournament championship game is scheduled to be played Saturday at 1 p.m. at Alpenrose.

The winner of the district tournament advances to play at the Oregon State Tournament, which starts July 21 and is hosted by Centennial Little League.

Other members of the Tigard team include Joseph Cavalli, Justin Grant, Seth Holman, Brandon MacFarlane and Daniel Young. Jorge Andrade is the team’s manager.

Update: Tigard scored an 11-3 win over Beaverton Area Little League in Wednesday's district tournament quarterfinal game. Tigard will play Lake Oswego tonight at 7:30 p.m. in a tourney semifinal game at Alpenrose. See next week's Times for a story on the win over Beaverton as well as Tigard's other bracket-play games.