Gladiators competed in summer baseball

The Clackamas Review, Jul 21, 2010

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GLADSTONE – At press time Monday, it appeared likely that Gladstone High School’s top summer baseball team would not advance to postseason play this summer. The Gladiators sported a 5-9 record in the OIBA Murphy Division (8-13 overall) with only a league doubleheader with Tualatin remaining.

“I don’t think we’ll make the playoffs,” said Gladstone coach Casey Webster. “But it’s been a good summer. We competed in almost every game and we played quality opponents. We still need some work on defense, but we’ve had pretty good hitting and our pitching's been decent.”

Webster said that Drew Walters, Joe Baker, Hector Campos, Kenny Simac, Cody Feb and Trace Webster have all been pretty consistent at the plate.

He praised Campos, Baker, Walters, Eamon Burrell, Sage Patricinio and Dakota Braun for their efforts on the mound.

Campos was sharp on the hill last Friday, when he pitched a complete game in a 5-4 decision over Glencoe. The senior hurler pitched a 4-hitter, striking out four and walking one, while yielding just one earned run.

“Hector did a good job keeping his composure,” said Webster. “He had everything working. He was throwing his curve ball for strikes, his fastball was pretty good and his slider was working.”

The Gladiators scored two runs in the top of the seventh to put the game away. Campos singled; pinch runner Trent Dawson stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a base hit by Trace Webster. Feb reached as a hit batsman, and Braun brought Webster around with a timely base hit.

The Gladiators competed in a doubleheader with Hood River on Saturday, but came up short, losing 8-5 and 6-5. Each team had eight hits in the opener. The Gladiators out-hit the Eagles 9-4 in the nightcap, but four errors proved costly.

Walters (4 strikeouts, 2 walks) pitched in the 4-hitter. Murphy and Campos both hammered out three hits in the losing effort.

Trace Webster hit a solo home run, his first roundtripper of the season, in the 8-5 loss.

The Gladiators held their own in a tournament at Wilsonville July 9-11. They rallied from a 6-0 deficit to drop Battle Ground 7-6, tied St. Helens 15-15 in a 2-1/2-hour time limit game, and lost to Beaverton 15-9. Walters (5-for-6) hit for the cycle and Baker went 5-for-6 at the plate in the tie with St. Helens; Walters had four hits and Webster had three hits and three RBI in the win over Battle Ground; Campos was 3-for-4 at the plate in the loss to Beaverton.