PREPS: Streaking Grant rides Fisher to another baseball win

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Grant is turning it on.

Led by the pitching of Grant Fisher, the Grant Generals broke open a pitcher’s duel late Monday at home to beat Cleveland High 10-0 for their sixth baseball win in the past seven games.

The Generals have climbed to 9-7 in the Portland Interscholastic League. They are tied with Madison for third place with one round to go.

Grant is scheduled to meet Cleveland at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Powell Park, while Madison plays at home against Wilson, also at 4:30 Tuesday, weather permitting. The Senators have lost four in a row — three to league champion Lincoln but also two of three in a PIL series two weeks ago against Grant.

“We’re finishing strong,” says Fisher, the 6-5 senior ace who plans to play next season for Concordia University.

Fisher cuffed the Warriors on three singles, but it was a 0-0 game and a battle with Cleveland sophomore hurler Eli Morse until the late stages.

The tide turned in the bottom of the fifth, when some throwing and fielding miscues by the visitors gave Grant the lead.

AJ Atherton got things started with a one-out infield single. Pinch-runner Luke Davis churned to second base on strike two to the next batter, No. 9 hitter Christian Wynn. The throw to second got away, and Davis raced to third. When Cleveland’s throw to third slipped past the bag and rolled to the fence by the Grant dugout, Davis continued on to score the game’s first run.

“We were just trying to get a runner in scoring position,” Grant coach Matt Kabza says. “I think the weather played a factor — the ball was a little slippery.”

That was all the support Fisher would need, although the Generals unloaded for nine runs in a sloppy sixth inning after the Warriors chose to retire Morse — who had recently returned to the mound from an elbow injury.

Grant’s big inning included four hits, three walks, three hit batters and two more Cleveland errors against a pair of relievers.

In five innings, Morse allowed just four hits, all singles, with no walks and four strikeouts.

At the plate, Cray Hamilton got hits in the fourth and sixth for the Warriors, and Colin Williams singled in the seventh.

Fisher (3-2, one save) has a 2.31 ERA this season. He has allowed 29 hits in 42 1/3 innings, with 48 strikeouts and 22 walks.

“”Fish’ has had a great year,” Kabza says. “He comes out there every time and gives us a solid performance.”

Fisher hit two batters but walked only one, and he struck out six Warriors.

Cleveland had a runner in scoring position only once while the game was close.

“I was getting ahead in the count,” Fisher said, “but I had a lot of help out there, and our bats are getting hot.”

Grant left fielder Eli Willlman, one of three senior starters, had three RBIs on a 4-for-4 day, with doubles on his last two at-bats. His first two-bagger scored Ezra Rappaport to give the G-Men a 2-0 lead.

Chris Fernandez’s two-run single made the score 4-0, and by then Grant was on its way. The first six Generals batters got on base and scored in the sixth.

The Generals improved to 11-13 overall. They are No. 33 out of 49 teams in the Oregon School Activities Association Class 6A rankings, but the top four finishers in the PIL are assured of spots in the 32-team state playoff bracket, and another win against Cleveland would five them the league’s No. 3 berth.

The loss knocked the Warriors (7-9 PIL, 9-12 overall) out of state playoff contention.

OTHER BASEBALL

Lincoln improved to 16-0 in the PIL — one win from a perfect league season — with its 6-2 victory against Franklin on Monday. The teams are slated to wrap up their regular season at 7 p.m. Tuesday, facing each other at Ron Tonkin Field, home of the Hillsboro Hops.

The Cardinals (20-5) overall, are No. 12 in the OSAA rankings. In Monday’s game, Jake Wilk had a team-high three hits and picked up the save, going 1 2/3 innings in relief of Jon Fortner, who earned the wins on 5 1/3 innings of work. Jackson Pyle and Dante Piacente each had two hits for the Cardinals, and Jackson Brim-Edwards drove in a key run late in the game.

Franklin fell to 6-10 in the PIL, 7-16 overall.

• Second-place Wilson continued its good late-season play with a 13-6 home triumph over Madison. The Senators got in a big hole before coming alive with six runs off Wilson relievers, after a line drive went off Wilson starter Matt Harvison’s right forearm in the third inning.

The Trojans got two RBIs from both Coke Conklin and Tommy Harvison. Conklin was 3 for 4 with a double, Harvison 2 for 3. Also for Wilson, Evan Shreeve and Ben Turker each had two hits, and leadoff batter Orlando Lorang scored three runs.

Madison’s Matthew Bennett went 3 for 3 with a double, RBI and run scored, but the Senators left 10 men on base.

Wilson raised its PIL record to 12-4. The Trojans are 15-9 overall and ranked No. 22 by the OSAA.

Madison dropped to 9-7, 11-12, but has clinched a state playoff berth.

• In the other PIL game on Monday, Benson edged Roosevelt 6-5 at Buckman Field. Benson improved to 2-14 in league, 2-18 overall, while the Roughriders dropped to 3-13, 4-20.

• Central Catholic clinched the outright Mt. Hood Conference championship on Monday. The Rams toppled Barlow 5-0 at Ron Tonkin Field.

“It was another step towards our real goal of winning playoff games,” Central Catholic coach Dan Floyd says. “Winning the conference is great, because we set it as one of our goals, and it now

give us confidence that we can reach our ultimate goal(s).”

Sam Muskat drove in two runs early against Barlow, and Jack Krauel tripled and scored a run. Cole Stringer threw six innings, with seven K’s and no walks. Tyson Cooper shut down the Bruins in the seventh.

Central has shut out four teams in a row and blanked five of its last six opponents.

The Rams are 15-1 in league, 19-5 overall. They are ranked No. 2 in 6A by the OSAA, with the MHC second-place team, Clackamas (12-3, 20-4) at No. 1 despite its 0-2 record against the Rams.

Central Catholic’s MHC finale is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday at Barlow.

• Also in the MHC on Monday, Gresham defeated David Douglas 10-5 at Gresham, The Scots fell to 2-14 in league, 5-19 overall.

SOFTBALL

PIL champion Roosevelt defeated Madison 23-6 at Delta Park, second-place Lincoln pounded Wilson 16-4 in five innings at Rieke Elementary School, and Cleveland stopped Grant 9-5 at Woodstock Park.

PIL standings: Roosevelt 16-1, Lincoln 11-5, Franklin 10-6, Wilson 8-8, Grant and Cleveland 6-10, Madison 0-17.

• In the Metro League, Jesuit got a 10-2 victory at Glencoe.

Jesuit is 9-3 in league and sits third, two games ahead of 7-5 Beaverton. Westview, the OSAA’s No. 1-ranked team, is 12-0, and Southridge is 10-2.

• Barlow nipped visiting Central Catholic 6-5 in a Mt. Hood Conference game, and host Gresham beat David Douglas 15-1 in five innings.

Central Catholic fell to 3-9 in the MHC, and David Douglas dropped to 1-11.