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Astoria Youth Baseball’ Under 14 Babe Ruth League team shined about as bright as the sun they played under on June 14 in Banks.
The middle school team coached by Aaron Barendse and Matt Starley defeated rival Banks High School in an epic heavyweight showdown to claim the Babe Ruth League championship. After entering the bottom of the seventh down 13-8, the top-seeded Fisherman walked things off behind a three-run triple from Sabian Gillum. Astoria scored six runs, all on two outs, in the bottom of the seventh, to survive blazing temperatures and a talented Banks Senior American team.
Their coach said they gave it their all.
“They’re a gritty group,” coach Barendse said. “We have high expectations for them and they put everything together. We played to the bitter end — and ended up victorious.”
Due to so much talent on this team, Barendse said the plan was for the boys to play a harder schedule this year to challenge them before they move up to high school next year. After splitting a two-game series with Banks during the regular season, Astoria got the better of them during tournament play.
“It’s a testament to how hard these kids work and the parents that raised them,” Barendse said. “They showed that through hard work and dedication you can get things done.”
For Barendse this moment held mixed emotions.
In a phone interview with the Astorian, Baremdse said after coaching these kids for four years, this was his last one as their coach.
“Matt has been with these boys longer than I have, but it’s bittersweet for me,” Barendse said. “Seeing the parents out there after the game was really cool. With this being the last game I’m going to coach, it was neat to end it like this.
“Now I can enjoy the rest of their journey as a parent and fan — but I’m going to miss these boys a lot.”
On the season, Astoria went 15-5-1 with only one of thei losses being to an in-state team.
In Sunday’s championship game, Banks and Astoria combined for 34 hits and 27 runs. The Fishermen were led by Cooper Hartley, who went 4-5 with three runs batted in. Other standouts for the Fishermen against Banks were Cutter Barendse, Tomas Banuelos, Gillum, Paul Schacher and Jack Larson. Barendse was 3-5 with an RBI, Banuelos had two hits and three RBIs, Schacher was 2-4 with two RBIs and Gillum was 2-5 with three RBIs. Barendse was the winning pitcher as he went 4.2 innings in Astoria’s victory after relieving Hartley in the third inning.
Three Fishermen make history
In addition to winning the Babe Ruth League under 14 tournament championship, three players made history in another way.
Hudson Allen, Barendse and Gillum became the first three Astoria middle schoolers to ever play in the all-state Oregon Bowl. Entering its ninth year, the all-state Oregon Bowl features the best sixth, seventh and eighth graders in the state. The boys are divided up into three different teams based on classification and play a showcase type game against each other.
Allen, Barendse and Gillum made the trip to Corvallis where they took part in the eighth grade game. This game featured the state’s best eighth graders ranging from 1A-6A classifications. The Fishermen trio were on the blue team, which lost 14-12 on Saturday, June 20.
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The middle school team coached by Aaron Barendse and Matt Starley defeated rival Banks High School in an epic heavyweight showdown to claim the Babe Ruth League championship. After entering the bottom of the seventh down 13-8, the top-seeded Fisherman walked things off behind a three-run triple from Sabian Gillum. Astoria scored six runs, all on two outs, in the bottom of the seventh, to survive blazing temperatures and a talented Banks Senior American team.
Their coach said they gave it their all.
“They’re a gritty group,” coach Barendse said. “We have high expectations for them and they put everything together. We played to the bitter end — and ended up victorious.”
Due to so much talent on this team, Barendse said the plan was for the boys to play a harder schedule this year to challenge them before they move up to high school next year. After splitting a two-game series with Banks during the regular season, Astoria got the better of them during tournament play.
“It’s a testament to how hard these kids work and the parents that raised them,” Barendse said. “They showed that through hard work and dedication you can get things done.”
For Barendse this moment held mixed emotions.
In a phone interview with the Astorian, Baremdse said after coaching these kids for four years, this was his last one as their coach.
“Matt has been with these boys longer than I have, but it’s bittersweet for me,” Barendse said. “Seeing the parents out there after the game was really cool. With this being the last game I’m going to coach, it was neat to end it like this.
“Now I can enjoy the rest of their journey as a parent and fan — but I’m going to miss these boys a lot.”
On the season, Astoria went 15-5-1 with only one of thei losses being to an in-state team.
In Sunday’s championship game, Banks and Astoria combined for 34 hits and 27 runs. The Fishermen were led by Cooper Hartley, who went 4-5 with three runs batted in. Other standouts for the Fishermen against Banks were Cutter Barendse, Tomas Banuelos, Gillum, Paul Schacher and Jack Larson. Barendse was 3-5 with an RBI, Banuelos had two hits and three RBIs, Schacher was 2-4 with two RBIs and Gillum was 2-5 with three RBIs. Barendse was the winning pitcher as he went 4.2 innings in Astoria’s victory after relieving Hartley in the third inning.
Three Fishermen make history
In addition to winning the Babe Ruth League under 14 tournament championship, three players made history in another way.
Hudson Allen, Barendse and Gillum became the first three Astoria middle schoolers to ever play in the all-state Oregon Bowl. Entering its ninth year, the all-state Oregon Bowl features the best sixth, seventh and eighth graders in the state. The boys are divided up into three different teams based on classification and play a showcase type game against each other.
Allen, Barendse and Gillum made the trip to Corvallis where they took part in the eighth grade game. This game featured the state’s best eighth graders ranging from 1A-6A classifications. The Fishermen trio were on the blue team, which lost 14-12 on Saturday, June 20.
Continue reading...
