Brummit holds Newberg bats at bay in rubber match

Rusty Rae/News-Register##Left-handed junior Tyler Brummit threw seven innings of one-run ball Friday as the Grizzlies beat the Newberg Tigers 3-1 and won the first series of conference play.

Rusty Rae/News-Register##Sophomore Taylor Carnahan takes a cut at an incoming ball Friday at home against Newberg. Carnahan scored the game’s first running after singling on a hard ground ball to right field.

Rusty Rae/News-Register##Carnaham, 23, and Tyler Brummit give one another a celebratory low five after McMinnville won the rubber match against Newberg, 3-1.

The McMinnville baseball team (7-5) secured a series win against 6A Pacific Conference rival Newberg (8-5) on Friday with a 3-1 victory as the sun shined down on the Grizzlies home turf.

Left-handed junior Tyler Brummit took the bump for the Grizzlies and threw seven complete innings while striking out five batters. Brummit allowed just two hits and one walk while the Tigers’ one run came courtesy of an error in the fourth inning. Through three games against Newberg, Grizzly pitchers surrendered only three walks, a key statistic that head coach Todd Peterson took notice of after Brummit’s 88-pitch day.

“Our approach is to get ahead of the count and Tyler did that really well along with (Cameron Hyder) on Wednesday and (Brayden Mix) on Monday,” Peterson said. “If we get those guys to consistently do that, we’re always going to give ourselves a chance to win a ball game. Tyler was just sharp with three different pitches and kept them at bay.”

Brummit was aided in his effort by defensive gems, such as that of senior Brayden Mix who tracked down a deep fly ball to left-center field and secured an over-the-shoulder catch to keep the Tigers off the base paths.

“It was a Sports Center, top 10 catch in center field that I think he and maybe just a couple other guys in the state can make,” Peterson said.

Offensively the Grizzlies scored all three of their runs in a chaotic third inning of baseball.

Sophomore left fielder Taylor Carnahan began the inning by swinging at the first pitch he saw, driving the ball into right field and past the sliding junior first baseman Zadek Bowlby for a single.

Senior shortstop Nash Optiz followed with a bunt base hit down the first base line. On the play, Bowlby was caught in between covering the bag and fielding the ball, which forced him to make a late break for the grounder and attempt a swipe tag on the speedy Optiz. On the attempt, Optiz quickly maneuvered around Bowlby’s glove and reached first base safely.

Mix stepped to the plate next and laid down another bunt, this time to junior third baseman Judah Campos. With Mix high-tailing towards first base, Campos’ throw sailed over Bowlby, allowing Caranahn to score the game’s first run. Mix proceeded to steal second base with junior right fielder Aaron Rolfe at the plate.

A walk to Rolfe loaded the bases for junior first baseman Cameron Hyder, who hit a high fly ball to center field that was caught but scored Optiz easily to take a 2-0 lead.

Two batters later Brummit reached on a throwing error that permitted Mix to round third and score for the Grizzly’s third run.

Peterson believes his team left runs on the field, but was delighted to see them benefit from the opportunities they had in the third inning. He continues to preach about simply making contact, getting balls in play and using their speed as an advantage against opposing defenses. On Friday they did just that and put pressure on a Newberg defense that was susceptible to making errors early in the game.

“If you get balls in play and make the defense have to work, generally, it can turn into some big innings for us,” Peterson said. “You gotta play for the situation that presents itself and we executed in that situation. You always want to get a few more, but it feels good to get the mojo going again.”

Newberg responded with one run in the top of the fourth inning, but it was all they could muster off of Brummit and the Grizzly’s defense.

Following the victory, Peterson spoke about the upcoming league schedule and how the team will prepare in future weeks knowing that they will face each conference opponent three times. He said there is a fine balance when it relates to pitching matchups and rotations, but feels confident in his left-handed trio of Brummit, Hyder and Mix who have already proven to be dominant strike throwers.

“We’re very confident in the three starters that we have,” Peterson said. “We’ll lean on the bullpen when needed, but it’s fun when you know going into a week that we got the same team three times.”

This week the Grizzlies continue league play with three games against Century High School (5-8). Last year Mac won the season series against the Jaguars 2-1, but the Grizzlies head coach recognizes that they are a team whose record is not indicative of the talent they have on the field.

“They’re always a competitive, well-coached team, so we’re gonna have to be ready to go each game,” Peterson said. “They got one of the best arms in the league in (junior) Jace Willett and whenever we see him we’ll certainly have our work cut out for us.”

This week, the Grizzlies are on the road at Century on Monday and Friday and will host the Jaguars at Patton Middle School on Wednesday. All games begin at 5 p.m.

Mac won the opener Monday 6-0. Mix pitched 6.1 innings of three-hit ball, striking out eight and allowing three walks. Aaron Rolfe came in to record the final two outs.

The Grizzlies recorded 12 hits and had six different players cross home plate for a score.