Camas baseball narrowly falls to Sumner in bi-district playoffs

CAMAS — Camas won the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League baseball title by a large margin. But in the postseason, the difference between a triumph and a setback can be small.

That was the case Tuesday in the Papermakers’ 4-3 loss to Sumner in the first round of the District 3-4 tournament.

Facing one of the state’s top pitchers in Oregon commit Jake Bresnahan, the Papermakers stayed within striking distance thanks to a gritty outing on the mound by Max Fraser.

After Holt Williams’ two-run homer in the sixth inning cut Sumner’s lead to 4-3, Camas looked for that timely hit in the final inning. But after advancing the potential tying run to third, Sumner relief pitcher Parker Tromp got a game-ending flyout.

No. 5 seed Sumner (16-6) clinched a state playoff berth with the win. No. 4 seed Camas (17-5) faces a loser-out game Wednesday against No. 12 seed Bellarmine Prep.

“I hope they take the good and forget about the bad,” Camas coach Stephen Short said. “There was a lot of good stuff today. I thought Max battled and pitched well. Defensively we were excellent, turning three double plays in big situations.”

Camas rode its deep pitching staff to a 8-1 record in 4A GSHL play. That has Short believing his team has a good shot to claim one of the tournament’s seven state berths for a second straight year.

“We’re fine,” Short said. “We’re kind of built for this situation with our pitching staff. We’ve just got to come focused and ready to play tomorrow.”

Sumner jumped ahead 2-0 in the first when Bresnahan laced a two-run double high off the left field fence with two outs.

Camas got a run back in the bottom of the second when Aaron Sung’s two-out triple scored Fraser from first.

Sumner led 3-1 after Bradley Carl led off the third inning with a home run into the evergreen trees above the right field fence. Bresnahan made that lead stand by retiring Camas in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Fraser, who allowed five hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings, got a helping hand from his defense. He escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fourth thanks to one of his six strikeouts and a double play.

Fraser also escaped a potential big inning in the sixth after the first two hitters singled. A double play emptied the bases, though a run scored from third to put Sumner ahead 4-1.

Zach Blair’s one-out single in the sixth ended a stretch of 11 straight hitters retired by Bresnahan, who allowed three hits, one walk and struck out seven over six innings.

Williams followed with a line-drive homer to left that sent the Papermakers pouring out of the dugout.

Fraser reached first on an error to start the seventh. He advanced to third on Diego Trujillo’s two-out pinch-hit single. But the last of several relatively deep fly balls by Camas ended the game, reinforcing how small margins can decide playoff baseball games.

“In the playoffs, if you look historically it’s all close games,” Short said. “Sumner’s a great team, very well coached. We faced one of the top pitchers in the state today. I thought we handled him well. We competed at the plate and caught a lot of barrels.”

SUMNER 4, CAMAS 3

Sumner 201 001 0—4 6 2

Camas 010 002 0—3 4 1

Sumner

Pitching — Jake Bresnahan 6 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 K, 1 BB; Parker Tromp 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K, 0 BB. Highlights — Bradley Carl 1-4, 2 R, RBI, HR; Davis Jaquez 1-3, R; Jake Bresnahan 1-4, 2 RBI, 2B; Jaxen Mentick 1-3; Chase Kreuger 1-2; Sean Ryan 1-2.

Camas

Pitching — Max Fraser 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 K, 2 BB; Ryan McClaskey 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K, 2 BB. Highlights — Holt Williams 1-2, R, 2 RBI, HR; Max Fraser 1-3; Aaron Sung 1-3, RBI, 3B; Diego Trujillo 1-1.