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Evergreen baseball seeks new battle yell Thursday

Plainsmen will play for first district title since 1982

By Paul Valencia, Columbian High School Sports Reporter
Published: May 12, 2010, 12:00am

The Evergreen baseball team is trying to rewrite the program’s history.

Or at least add some positive notes to what has been a rather drab era.

Nothing drab about the Plainsmen on Tuesday, though.

Tommy Thorpe pitched a one-hitter, Jared Powell blasted the first home run of his career, and the Plainsmen advanced to the championship game of the Class 4A district tournament with a 3-1 victory over Skyview at Propstra Stadium.

Evergreen, looking for its first district title since 1982, will face top-seed Kelso at 5 p.m. Thursday at Propstra Stadium.

“It’s such a great thing,” Powell said. “It’s something I’ll remember for a long time, being my senior year, and we’re playing so good.”

Chad Burchett, who took over Evergreen’s program this season after coaching at Prairie, said his players deserve credit for enduring years of struggles and for working to improve their lot in the 4A Greater St. Helens League.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Burchett said, recalling his first interaction with his new team. “Right away, I found a bunch of kids who wanted to succeed, were really hungry, and they wanted to win.”

It was Burchett who noticed a banner that noted the district title in 1982.

“Since that day, we yell ‘1982’ every time we break,” the coach said.

Evergreen has not won the title — the Plainsmen get their chance Thursday — but the squad has earned a spot in the bi-district playoff Saturday for the right to get to the state tournament.

The Plainsmen got there with the loser-out game against Skyview. Thorpe was dominant all evening, allowing two base runners. He struck out 10, and he had a no-hitter through four innings.

“I was getting kind of anxious to keep going,” Thorpe said. “I didn’t want to get off the field. I wanted to keep pitching, even after I got three outs.”

Skyview’s Matt Hansen broke up the bid in the top of the fifth inning with a long fly ball that kept sailing, a ball that eventually flew over the center fielder’s head for a triple. Hansen would score on a ground-out by Cole Buruse to make it 2-1.

Thorpe had earlier walked a batter, so he ended up facing 23 batters — two over the minimum.

“Tommy’s tough,” Skyview coach Eric Estes said, giving credit to an opponent who was throwing all of his pitches for strikes.

Skyview’s pitching was solid, too. Kegan Aguilar gave up two earned runs in five innings of work. The Storm gave up two earned runs in their two games in this tournament.

Evergreen jumped to the lead in the bottom of the first on a run-scoring double from Josh Vizcaino. In the second inning, Powell went deep for a special home run.

“It’s the first one I’ve ever hit in my entire life, even Little League,” Powell said. “It’s fantastic. I feel like I’m on top of the world.”

Those two runs were all Thorpe would need.

“Every at-bat, I do what I always do,” Thorpe said. “Focus. I was dialed in. It didn’t even feel like I was throwing hard, but it was working.”

“Filthy pitches,” Powell described.

After Skyview cut the deficit in half, Evergreen got back its insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. Vizcaino was hit by a pitch, then advanced to third on a error during a pick-off attempt. He would score on Cody Clune’s sacrifice fly.

Two innings later, the Plainsmen were celebrating a rare victory in the district tournament.

One more win Thursday and they will be able to order a new banner.

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Columbian High School Sports Reporter