Columbia Basin River Dogs lose to Team Cape Cod in Senior Babe Ruth World Series quarterfinals, 6-3

EPHRATA - With the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning, the Columbia Basin River Dogs trailed by three runs and were down to their final out.

Timbo Taylor stepped into the batter's box and was able to work a full count against Team Cape Cod pitcher Riley Sorenson.

Sorenson delivered a ball that appeared to be outside the plate and Taylor began to lurch toward first base before freezing.

Strike three was called, ending the River Dogs' season with a 6-3 loss against Team Cape Cod in the quarterfinals of the Senior Babe Ruth World Series.

"I thought it (the pitch) was outside, a lot of people did, but you got to hog the plate and be aggressive with two strikes," Taylor said. "Ump made a decision and too bad it wasn't ball four."

Head coach Randy Boruff echoed his player's sentiments.

"We thought, that could be sour grapes, thought the last pitch called strike three was a little wide," he said.

The River Dogs were able to jump on Cape Cod for a run each in the first two innings after defensive miscues by the team from Massachusetts.

After reaching on an error to lead off the game, Matt Sutherland stole second and advanced all the way to home when Sorenson's delivery to Drew Loera was wild and catcher Chris Pearson's attempt to catch Sutherland at third base sailed into left field.

The River Dogs added another run in the second when Kyle Kilian hit a one-out single and reached home after a sequence that included two wild pitches and an error by Cape Cod.

However, the early River Dog lead was quickly negated when Colin Ridley crushed a two-run home run in the home half of the second.

An inning later, Gerritt Merrill gave Cape Cod its first lead when he sent a Parker Stohr offering over the left field fence.

Stohr allowed four runs on four hits in three innings of work.

Aaron Schramm and Taylor combined for three innings of relief.

"We came out a little flat hitting-wise," Boruff said. "Our pitching ... Parker just wasn't real sharp. The two home runs ... All of a sudden it was 2-2 and I thought, 'OK,' but then 4-2."

Team Cape Cod added a run each in the fourth and the sixth to increase its lead to 6-2 entering the final inning of play.

Columbia Basin threatened in the seventh, scoring one run on a Drew Loera sacrifice fly.

But with the bases loaded, the River Dogs were unable to get that one hit that would've put real pressure on Sorenson.

"We didn't get too many clutch hits this game," Taylor said. "We got a lot of hits, but not really clutch ones. We had our chances and we didn't succeed."

Sorenson didn't overpower the River Dog hitters. Instead, he worked the edges of the plate and induced several weak ground outs that led to multiple double plays.

"It was a case of us not hitting our pitch," Boruff said. "We hit his pitch. We didn't wait and trust our hands. We just again fell short and it's too bad. I wanted to really badly get into the semifinals and get a trophy."

Boruff expressed a tinge of regret that he didn't have his team play a few more meaningful games before the World Series.

The River Dogs had been away from competitive baseball since the conclusion of the Washington Baseball Open on July 27.

"I would've maybe not had as much in between time between our last tournament and our first game in the World Series," Boruff said. "I thought that we were a little flat coming out the first game ... We just never really hit the ball."

Columbia Basin will return eight players from this year's roster and will look to promote players from the younger Desert Dogs team that also reached the World Series.

"I think we had a great season," Taylor said. "I definitely thought we could've gone farther, but it's baseball. There's only one winner and sometimes stuff happens. We had a good season. It was fun, I enjoyed it."