2021 Baseball Notebook (Week 10)

COMING UP: vs. Oregon Tech (DH), Saturday, 1 p.m.; vs. Oregon Tech (DH), Sunday, 11 a.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
SPECTATOR INFORMATION: Per the Cascade Conference COVID-19 fan policy, a limited number of spectators will be able to watch the weekend series between C of I and Oregon Tech. Each Coyote player will be allotted four tickets for immediate family members for each game, while the Owls will have a 50-person pass list that will be determined prior to making the trip to Caldwell. Only persons on the pass list will be admitted to the games – with no tickets available to the general public. All spectators will be required to wear masks at all times.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION: All four games of the weekend series will be carried live on the Yotes Digital Network with Mike Safford on the call, with Live Stats available on the broadcast or via C of I's Dakstats Portal.
 
POSTSEASON STRUCTURE IN 2021 / PLAYOFF PICTURE: With the CCC and California Pacific Conferences holding their own postseason events this year, the structure has changed for teams in the Northwest in 2021. Beginning this spring, the Top-3 finishers in the conference standings will qualify for the CCC Championships, with the regular-season champion (Lewis-Clark State) hosting the event. The teams would play a round-robin series (each team playing the other two squads), with the teams finishing 2-0 and 1-1 meeting for a title, or if all three teams finish 1-1, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds would meet, with the winner squaring off with the No. 1 seed for the crown. If LCSC wins the tournament, the tournament runner-up would earn the CCC's automatic bid to the NAIA Championships (as LCSC earns an auto bid as the World Series host). Three teams are battling for the final two spots, as Oregon Tech holds a 1-game lead on both C of I and Corban for the No. 2 spot – with the Yotes the lone team among the group yet to play LCSC for a second time.
 
SLUGFEST IN LA GRANDE: The Yotes hit the road – playing the first-ever league counters at Eastern Oregon's Optimist Field, with the two squads combining for an epic offensive outburst. C of I posted season-highs in runs and hits in a 19-16 victory over the Mountaineers, taking nearly four hours to complete the 9-inning match-up. It was the most runs (16) and hits (20) C of I has ever allowed in a win and the most combined runs in a game since a 37-2 Coyote win over EOU in 1999. The 19 runs scored were the most for C of I since a 25-8 win over OIT in 2010 and the 18 hits were the most since a 21-hit attack against Simpson in 2013.
 
YOTES TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ERRORS: The playing surface at Optimist Field is expected to be converted to an artificial turf next season – with the early year grass giving the two teams fits in the opener – as C of I and EOU combined for 10 errors. The seven errors by EOU alone were the most by a Coyote opponent since Northwest Nazarene posted nine errors in a 2001 C of I win.
 
WINNING A ROAD SERIES: C of I won the first three games of the series at Eastern Oregon, clinching their first road series of 2021 and their first road series victory since taking 3-of-4 at Corban in 2019.
 
VAN HORNE HAS MONSTER WEEKEND: Shortstop Austin Van Horne had a weekend to remember in La Grande, putting up huge numbers in the 4-game series. The fifth-year senior went a combined 12-for-21 with five doubles, two home runs and seven RBI, adding seven runs scored. Van Horne had a pair of 4-hit games on Saturday, his third and fourth 4-hit games of the season – the most since fellow Caldwell alum, Diego Robles, posted six 4-hit games during the 2010 season. His six home runs on the season are the most since Cole Mansanarez hit nine homers during the 2017 season, while Van Horne became the 12th member of the C of I 200-hit club.
 
NOLAN / DUDLEY HAVE KEY TRIP: The Coyote bats came alive in La Grande, as both Ryan Nolan and Ben Dudley were instrumental in C of I's success. Nolan went 6-for-13 with a double and four RBI, while Dudley went 6-for-13 with a double and three RBI, scoring five runs.
 
CLAY RUNS ON BASE STREAK TO 20: Matthew Clay continued a banner senior season, reaching base safely in all four games over the weekend, extending his streak of games reaching base to 20. The center fielder went 3-for-6 with four RBI in the series opener and launched a 2-run home run in the series finale – pushing his RBI total to 37, the most by a Coyote since the 2016 season.
 
HANKARD PROVIDES LATE INNING RELIEF: After being limited to 4.1 innings over his first six appearances of 2021, redshirt freshman Wyatt Hankard handled the late innings in both Game 2 and Game 3 of the Eastern series, posting a pair of saves. In Saturday's nightcap, Hankard allowed an unearned run on three hits to pick up the save, while in Sunday's opener, he worked out of an inherited bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning and eluded a bases loaded situation in the ninth to slam the door. With his two solid outings, Hankard lowered his ERA from 8.31 to 3.60.
 
TRUEBLOOD SOLID: Freshman Jaden Trueblood has made the most of joining the starting rotation, posting his second-straight quality start and his fourth-straight dominant outing. The righty went 5.1 innings at EOU, allowing just one run and striking out seven in the 11-2 victory – earning his second win of 2021. Over his last four appearances, Trueblood has pitched 16 innings, limiting opponents to just two runs on 10 hits with 19 strikeouts, dropping his ERA from 8.10 to 3.81.
 
WOOD HAS ANOTHER QUALITY START: Right-hander Dimick Wood has had a banner last month, going a combined 3-1 in his last five starts – tossing six or more innings in four of the outings. The junior followed up a 10-strikeout performance against Corban with seven solid innings at EOU, striking out eight batters – upping his conference leading strikeout total to 54, while ranking second in the league with a .203 opponents' batting average.
 
MUST WIN SERIES: C of I closes out their 28-game home schedule with a 4-game weekend series against Oregon Tech – needing a series win to keep their postseason hopes alive. C of I has split eight games with the Owls in 2021, including a 4-game series last month in Klamath Falls. A series win over Tech would give the Yotes a tiebreaker edge over OIT if the teams were to finish tied in the final Cascade Conference standings.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – OREGON TECH: The Owls (14-20, 9-11 CCC) look to snap a losing skid, as OIT has dropped 6-of-7 games, including all four games of a home series vs. Lewis-Clark State. Offense is the key for Tech, hitting .269 as a squad with 26 home runs, as the trio of Dalton Daily (.343 10 HR 36 RBI), Micah Jio (.341 1 HR 23 RBI) and Mitchel Swanson (.315 7 HR 28 RBI) leading the way. On the mound, left-hander Patrick Arman (3-1 3.72 ERA) is the ace of the staff, with right-handers Jesse Dunham (1-4 5.80 ERA) and Trask Telesmanich (3-3 6.75 ERA) logging the bulk of the innings.
 
SENIOR DAY: Sunday marks the final home regular-season games for nine C of I senior student-athletes. Fifth-year senior Austin Van Horne will be joined by fourth-year seniors Carter Vieira and Nick Mooney, third-year senior Matthew Clay, second-year seniors Tanner McGrath, Ryan Nolan, Anthony Pannullo and Ben Tighe, along with first-year senior Brendan Boily in a ceremony between the third and fourth games of the series.
 
INSIDE THE CONFERENCE NUMBERS: The Yotes lead the Cascade Conference in five stat categories – triples (13), walks (186) and sacrifice flies (20) by hitters and innings pitched (342.1) and strikeouts (293) by pitchers. Individually, eight C of I players lead the league – Jonah Hultberg in hits (55), Weston Miller in triples (3), Ryan Nolan in walks (30), Dimick Wood in strikeouts (54), Connor Root in innings pitched (56.1), Colby Durski in appearances (18), with Wyatt Hankard and Erik Wisenor tied to the top spot in saves (2).
 
RECORD BOOK: Austin Van Horne ranks among the C of I career Top-20 in 12 statistical categories – No. 2 in at bats (804) and in games started (219), No. 3 in games played (220), No. 5 in walks (86), No. 6 in triples (7), No. 8 in doubles (45), No. 11 in runs scored (137), No. 12 in hits (200), No. 13 in pitching strikeouts (134), No. 15 in stolen bases (39), No. 16 in home runs (17) and No. 19 in both hit by pitches (24) and in RBI (110). Weston Miller is also in the Top-20, ranking No. 19 in hit by pitches (24).
 
HISTORY: C of I has had a rich history of baseball, dating back to the era when C of I was an academy. In recorded history (since 1934), the Yotes have posted a 1,599-1,281-7 all-time record, including 34 trips to the postseason (including playoff appearances in 30 of the last 33 seasons. C of I won the 1948 and 1949 Northwest Conference titles, with the 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2017 teams advancing out of conference/regional/grouping tournaments – making five trips to the NAIA World Series – winning the 1998 national title and placing second in 1999. The Yotes have had multiple players drafted and play in professional baseball – with Jason Simontacchi ('96) the last C of I player to see action in the major leagues, and both Riley O'Brien and Zach Draper (in 2017) the last players to be drafted in the MLB First-Year Players Draft – with O'Brien currently on the Cincinnati Reds 40-man roster and Draper in the Cleveland Indians farm system.