Offensive surge powers Raiders Baseball over PW

It was a picture-perfect end to their last regular season wearing the Portland uniform for senior’s, Caden Thelen and Owen Smith. 

The two celebrated Senior Night by each collecting homeruns in the nightcap of the Raiders doubleheader sweep over Pewamo-Westphalia. 

“They brought the energy,” Portland Head Coach Chris Trierweiler said. “It was a nice day out and we got two wins. So obviously it was a pretty great senior night for sure.” 

The Raiders offense amassed 23 hits in the victories, winning the opener 10-5 and game two 11-7. 

“We knew that they were pretty fundamentally sound,” Trierweiler said. “We’ve been trying to put all of our pieces of the puzzle together at the end of the season. So, we really strive ourselves on not making any mistakes. Not throwing the ball around and throwing strikes.” 

In game one the Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. 

Portland’s offense awoke in the third following a single by Thelen, who advanced to third on an error by the catcher. Evan Thelen walked and Mark Meyers laid down a sacrifice bunt to score a run.  

Brody Moore gave the Raiders a 3-2 advantage on a homerun to left field, their first lead of the contest. 

The bottom of the fifth provided an opportunity to crack the game open for Portland, who loaded the bases with only one out. 

Barrett Brennan scored on a wild pitch and AJ Weber singled driving in two runs to give Portland a commanding lead. Brad Meyers followed it up with an RBI single of his own to make it 7-2. 

PW didn’t give up though, snagging three runs of their own in the sixth to shorten the deficit to two. 

In the final frame the Raiders tallied three runs on an RBI double by Mark Meyers, a single by Moore, and a double by Weber.  

Mark Meyers started on the bump for Portland throwing five innings of five hit ball, surrendering five earned runs. The senior hurler struck out seven on the night. 

“This year with Caden dealing with a shoulder injury we’ve had to rely on Marky to give us some more innings,” Trierweiler said. 

Pitching the final two innings was Max Sandborn who gave up one hit and struck out five. 

Caden Thelen, Mark Meyers, Brody Moore, and AJ Weber each tallied two hits apiece. 

Just like game one, the Pirates jumped out to an early lead, claiming a 1-0 lead after scoring on an error.  

Portland answered the call in the bottom of the first, scoring five runs on five hits. 

Caden Thelen led the game off with a double and Barrett Brennan and Evan Thelen followed with singles, tying the game at one run. 

Brennan scored on an error by the PW catcher and Mark Meyers flew out to left field, driving in a run on the sacrifice fly. 

The Raiders added to their lead on a triple by Gunnar Williams, followed by a double by Owen Smith making it a 5-1 game.  

“Once we got up on them, the gates started to open and all the pieces started coming together,” Trierweiler said. 

In the bottom of the third the Raiders added three more runs, one of which came courtesy of Smith’s big fly.  

Following three consecutive hits, the Pirates scored three runs, but Caden Thelen’s home run in the top of the fifth closed the door on PW’s momentum.

Caden Thelen had four hits and four runs in the nightcap to lead Portland.  

“Caden with his bat and his speed brings a lot to the table,” Trierweiler said. “He’s a weapon on the base pads and with his bat.” 

Owen Smith, Barrett Brennan, and Evan Thelen each had two hits apiece.  

Starting the game for the Raiders was Paul Roberts, who went five and one-third innings pitched allowing seven runs (four earned) and striking out eight. 

Brody Moore relieved Roberts pitching the final one and two-thirds innings and not allowing a hit or run. 

Following the sweep, Portland is now 18-10 with the districts slated for next Saturday, June 1st. 

As a part of the Senior Night festivities the Raiders honored their seniors, Caden Thelen, Mark Meyers, Owen Smith, Eddie Hill, and Sawyer Maynard. 

Following the victories, Portland is now 18-10 with the districts slated for Saturday, June 1st against Lakewood (17-14) at Portland High School.  

“They’re pretty respectable,” Trierweiler said. “They have a pretty good record. If we play a good game and stick to our gameplan then it should be a pretty good game.” 

Portland edged the Vikings 4-3 in their lone matchup of the regular season. 

“This is starting to be baseball season,” Trierweiler said. “It’s getting warm and it’s the end of the season. This is when you want to play your best baseball.” 

“We know what we want to do, and we know what our focus is,” Trierweiler said.