Tiger baseball plays its way into the thick of region playoff race

Douglas High School baseball secured a crucial win Tuesday afternoon over Reed.

The 9-4 victory slots the Tigers (8-7 in Class 5A league play) into a three-way tie with Reed (8-7) and McQueen (8-7) with one league game to ply for all three teams.

The three squads are battling for the No. 4 seed, which would give one of the teams a home playoff game to open the regional postseason Tuesday, May 7.

“They (Reed) put it on us last time we played them,” said Douglas head coach Jim Tucker. “This was one we had circled. We needed it.”

Avenging a loss to the Raiders

Douglas lost to Reed in its last meeting, 20-10, but Tuesday didn’t feature quite the same scoring extravaganza.

Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the second, senior leadoff hitter Thomas Young drove in both Grayson Kamper and Luke Main, who had reached on a hit by pitch and a bunt single, respectively.

Young, who finished the game 3-for-4, singled into center field and took second on the throw home.

The speedster, who had already swiped his 31^st bag of the season, advanced to third before scoring on a wild pitch.

Young barely got his hand underneath the tag at the plate, but he was quick enough to put the Tigers back in front.

After Jackson Ovard drew a walk, starting pitcher Keegan Freeman helped himself by doubling and plating Ovard to put Douglas in front, 5-3.

Freeman proceeded to put together back-to-back scoreless innings on the mound before knocking in another RBI on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth.

In the fifth, he worked his way out of trouble thanks to some stellar defense.

Reed led off the inning with three straight singles, loading the bases with no outs.

However, Freeman induced a grounder to third base that was handled smoothly by sophomore Grayson Kamper.

Kamper went home for the force out and catcher Jeffrey Peters turned and fired to first to get a clutch double play.

The Raiders did score a run in the next at-bat, but Freeman and the Tigers limited their league foe to just the one run, maintaining a 6-4 advantage.

“He’s (Kamper) there for his defense. He’s a guy we see a future for in the program as a junior and a senior,” said Tucker. “For him to be thrown in a tightly contested league game and keep his composure says a lot about him.”

In the bottom of the fifth, Owen Evans drew a bases loaded walk to put Douglas up three, 7-4, before Peters roped a two-run single to center field giving the Tigers’ a five-run edge.

Evans’ walk came after a nice backhanded pick at shortstop to get the final out in the bottom of the fourth inning.

It set up a two-inning relief appearance from senior Aaron Tekansik, who closed the door.

Freeman ended his afternoon with seven punchouts on the hill.

UP NEXT: Douglas will wrap up its regular season at Spanish Springs (4-11 in Class 5A North) this afternoon. The Cougars are already locked into the No. 7 seed. Reed will conclude its season at home against McQueen.

“We’ve been streaky, but I’d rather be streaky in the last week of the season and into the postseason and take our chances,” said Tucker. “A breathe of fresh air we are the team we believe we are.”

A full look at the Class 5A North standings can be found here. 

(The Douglas High School baseball senior class smiles prior to game time against Reed. Pictured from left to right are Winston Babbitt, Aaron Tekansik, Carter Bleeker, Thomas Young, Keegan Freeman, Robert Williams, Aaron Moss, Owen Evans, Jake Davis and Axel Oliver. / Ron Harpin)