Small ball, pitching continue to carry Bulldogs in first round playoff victory
By Eli Thomas
The Chronicle
CRESWELL – Creswell head coach Kevin Feist has emphasized his season-long offensive philosophy of “small ball,” which is using baserunning and situational hitting to move runners around the basepaths even if an out is sacrificed.
Wednesday’s opening state playoff game showed the Bulldogs will stick with the philosophy that got them to the No. 3 seed in Class 3A.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Bulldogs led 3-2 and had the bases loaded with one out. Feist called a “suicide squeeze,” in which the baserunners steal as the batter tries to bunt. Bulldogs sophomore Braden Hartman laid down a terrific bunt on the third base line for a single that scored a run. Heads-up baserunning by Jaxon Pelham allowed him to come all the way home from second base when the throw to first went slightly wide. The Bulldogs tacked on one more run in the inning, and another in the sixth on their way to a 7-2 victory over McLoughlin.
“It’s a weapon that we use, and we’re pretty good at it. The kids are bought into it. They understand we’ve got some guys that can handle the bat and put the ball down, and we have some speed,” Feist said. “It’s something that we take a lot of pride in, and we practice it every day, and the kids know it’s going to win you games.”
After Bulldogs starter Landon Vaughn allowed two runs in the first inning, and the Pioneers turned a double play and got a strikeout to end the first inning up 2-0, the Bulldogs faithful were completely silent, while the Pioneers’ elation was palpable.
Vaughn found his rhythm from that point on, retiring nine of the next 10 Pioneer batters and going five more innings without allowing any more runners to cross home plate.
“When you’re down 2-0 early, you’ve got to be thinking, ‘Okay, we can’t go too long.
I’ve got to be ready for Plan B,’ and he settled in,” Feist said. “He ended up having a couple nine-pitch innings, and just got better as the game went on.”
Vaughn gave way to Bulldogs senior Matthew Jenkins, who was a first-team all-state utility player last season but has struggled to play through a back injury this year. The one-inning outing was Jenkins’ first pitching appearance since April 14. After a four pitch walk, he struck out the second batter he faced and the crowd gave him a raucous ovation. Jenkins retired the next two batters as well to close things out.
“You never want to see anybody get hurt, but when seniors get hurt, it’s tough because that’s it for them, especially when it’s their spring sport, right? So, I just hugged him and told him I was proud of him, and I was so happy to see him back out on the mound, and that I loved him because he’s been a great player in our program for three years, so it was pretty awesome to see,” Feist said of Jenkins return.
On Friday, the Bulldogs will play in the state quarterfinals for the first time in program history. Their opponent will be Burns/Crane, where Feist coached for 17 seasons. He feels a mix of emotions about playing against his old team, but competitiveness wins out.
“I want to win because we’re in the playoffs, but those kids that we are coaching are very special to me, and then the kids that are playing, they were all little guys when I was coaching there when we were having success, and it was fun to see them running around and being at games, and some of them had relatives that played on my teams and stuff like that, so, yeah, it’ll be cool.
“It’ll be a lot cooler if we win, though,” Feist said.
Because of a minor ankle injury to Bulldogs top option Jaxon Pelham, Vaughn started on Wednesday and pitched well. Pelham will start the quarterfinal, and now his rest days will line up to where he can start the state championship, if the Bulldogs get there.
