North team takes game one 9-5 of high school baseball Oregon All-Star Series

Published 10:10 pm Saturday, June 22, 2024

Oregon’s best high school baseball seniors from 6A and 5A schools descended upon Goss Stadium in Corvallis June 22 for the first game of the Richardson Oregon All-Star Series.

Leaving the home of the Oregon State baseball with the win was the North team, composed of Portland metro-area standouts, with a 9-5 victory over the South team, which is made up from the rest of the state.

The South led 3-2 going into the seventh inning of the nine-inning matchup, but that’s when Putnam’s Jackson Fera put his fingerprints on the matchup.

With the bases loaded and only one out, the Linn-Benton Community College commit hammered the first pitch he saw in the seventh to the right-center wall. The deep field led to Fera sliding in for a base-clearing triple and putting the North up 5-3.

“First at-bat (in the sixth inning), just kind of getting the bearings with splitting time and was kind of off in my first,” Fera said. “Second AB I was ready to go, saw a first-pitch heater and just let it rip. Nice and easy, not trying to do too much, just put in the gap and it was a pretty good swing.”

Jesuit’s Brode Lyman, a Hawaii commit, followed Fera’s triple with a single through the left side of the infield to make it 6-3 North after the top of the seventh.

For Fera, listed at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, he’s the latest All-Star to come out of Putnam after helping the Kingsmen take fourth in a competitive Northwest Oregon Conference and return to the 5A postseason.

Fera is also one of only two 5A players to make the North roster along with Wilsonville pitcher Justin Schramm.

“I know most of these guys through baseball events and playing with them previous times,” Fera said. “So it’s super fun to kind of end out your high school career with guys you played with for a while and guys you know.

“Putnam’s always had great baseball players and people kind of sleep on us. I’m super excited and super honored to be able to do it. There’s gonna be another Putnam guy here next year, I know it.”

Following the four-run seventh, the North kept hacking away with Sunset’s Max Ellerbrook opening the inning with his third single of the day, followed by Sherwood’s Nolan Umlandt (Portland commit) hitting a soft double down the left field line.

That brought up Lincoln’s Garrett Schmokel for his fourth at bat of the day, and he made sure it was a memorable one.

With the wind carrying out to left, Schmokel smoked a liner to left that jumped the wall displaying the Beavers’ three national titles for a three-run home run.

Not only did it put the game away for the North, but it was the first home run of Schmokel’s career.

“I was just sitting fastball, got fastball last at bat and took it off the wall,” Schmokel said, referring to his double an inning prior in the seventh. “Just trying to hammer one again.”

Schmokel, an Everett Community College commit, started his day at the plate with back-to-back strikeouts as the North as a whole only had five hits through six innings.

However, the Portland-area crew kept the energy up and Schmokel’s bomb was the result of staying locked in at the plate.

“I had a lot of support, struck out first two at bats and everyone was hyping me up still,” Schmokel said. “Everyone was rooting for me, so a lot of help with that and it kept the emotions up.

“This is pretty special because my brother played in this game last year, so coming out here and doing what he did is super special.”

The North’s first run came in the fourth thanks to West Linn’s Ryan VandenBrink, an Oregon State commit, hitting a double to the left corner and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Westview’s Cole Katayama-Stall, a Portland commit, hit a sacrifice fly to center to score the former Lion.

One more run came in during the sixth when Lyman got a hit in first at bat and then stole second. Two batters later in his first at bat, Ida B. Wells’ Griffin Scott, a Utah commit, singled up the middle to score Lyman and make it 3-2 South before the big seventh and eighth innings changed the game.

On the mound, Sandy’s Matt Kosderka (Lower Columbia College) started the game by throwing two scoreless innings, giving up only one hit with four strikeouts and one walk.

Lincoln’s Alex Dexter (Occidental College) pitched the next two innings, giving up two runs on three hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Clackamas’ Hudson Normand (Centralia College) pitched the fifth and sixth, giving up one run on two hits with two walks.

Wells’ Quin Dufort (Portland) closed the final three innings out, giving up two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

While Fera and Schmokel had the two big hits of the day, Sunset’s Ellerbrook did the most damage with a 3-for-5 day, all singles, and scoring once.

“I haven’t played in a baseball game in three weeks,” Ellerbrook said. “I was just trying to come out here and have fun. Going to the ball, trying to hit the ball hard, that was kind of my approach all year so why change it?”

The weekend at Goss is a little bittersweet for the Apollo as he plans to attend Oregon next year to pursue a degree in physical therapy and step away from baseball. His head coach in John Barnes is one of the coaches for the North team as well.

Still, he heads to Eugene with plenty of history made behind him. Sunset made the 6A state title for the first time since it won it in 1994, a team Ellerbrook’s dad played on.

While collegiate ball isn’t in the cards (for now), Ellerbrook gets one last weekend with the boys to keep crushing baseballs.

“It’s really special, and I think the most special part about it is my two coaches are here with me,” Ellerbrook said. “Obviously, we wanted to win that (state title) game and kind of have that shared experience with (my dad), but I feel like my support group is so incredible, so it was a really special year.”