Photo by Steve Wilkowske

Marcos Quintero was out on this play, but he bounced back to take the mound and lead the Canby American Legion AAA baseball team to a 10-3 defeat of Centennial Thursday.

By Sean Patterson
of the Herald

A loss to West Linn notwithstanding, the Canby American Legion AAA baseball team looked sharp in winning two of three games at home last week.

Canby, 11-9 on the summer and 6-2 in Area 7 play, posted impressive wins over Centennial on Thursday and Lake Oswego Tuesday to pick up some momentum for a tournament in Forest Grove over the weekend.

Results of that event were not available, as the Herald went to press Friday for the Fourth of July holiday.

Thursday, the hosts took what Centennial gave them and parlayed that into a 10-3 victory at Canby High School. Canby scored right away, picking up two runs in the first on a Marcos Quintero hit, and never looked back.

In the third, Canby blew things open with a four-run outburst, highlighted by Jake Norquist's RBI single and an errant pickoff throw that allowed two runners to cross.

"We really didn't do much that inning, but we made the most of what they gave us," Canby head coach Marty Hunter said. "They had some trouble handling the ball, and we were able to take advantage of it."

Canby added four more runs in the fourth, as Brett Fuge delivered an RBI single and Norquist grounded in another run.

It was all enough to make a winner of reliever Quintero, who threw the middle innings before giving way to Brett Henry. Garret Miyake started the game and pitched the first two innings.

Two days earlier, Canby rallied in the latter innings to score a 10-7 win over Lake Oswego at CHS.

Tied 2-2 going to the last of the fourth, the hosts took the lead for good on Ross Crooks' two-run single. The team added two more in the fifth on RBI singles by Norquist and Quintero, then tacked on four more in the sixth, with three of them coming around on a Nate Dawson single.

Cushing got the win and Henry closed things out.

Sandwiched in between the wins was a 22-7 blowout loss to West Linn Wednesday - a game Hunter and company would just as soon forget. The visitors scored 10 runs in the first two innings, but even then Canby trailed only 10-6. Unfortunately, an eight-run third put the game out of reach.

Looking ahead, Canby will be in Dallas Wednesday for a 6 p.m. game and at Centennial Thursday for another evening contest.

After that, the team returns home to face Westview Saturday at noon and Tualatin Sunday at 1 p.m.

A pair of Canby girls played key roles as the Northwest Jazz, a 10-and-under B fastpitch softball team based in McMinnville, claimed a state title at the ASA State Championships in Beaverton June 23-25.

Pitcher Gracie Barstad and catcher Brooke Hall of Canby suited up for the Jazz, which went 5-0 en route to winning the 14-team tournament.

Barstad, the younger sister of high school pitching phenoms Sophie and Joanna Barstad, was particularly hot on the mound. She hurled 29 innings and racked up a whopping 63 strikeouts while allowing just eight hits.

Along the way, she pitched a no-hitter against the Yamhill Tigers Rage in the team's third game - an 8-0 victory that set up a date with the Fireballs of Canby in the semifinals.

The Northwest Jazz won that contest to qualify for the finals, where the girls met the Aloha Breeze. It was in that game that Barstad enjoyed perhaps her brightest moment - a called third strike on a change-up to end the game and clinch a 7-3 victory. It was a pitch she had been working on over the winter.

Hall, meanwhile, caught four of the five games and was the designated hitter in the championship game despite a bruised thumb. She ended up going 6 for 12 for the tournament with six RBIs, two doubles, a walk and one hit by pitch.

Likewise, Barstad was consistent at the plate, going 10 for 16 in the No. 4 spot.

The Northwest Jazz opened the tournament with a narrow 5-4 defeat of the Albany Comets on Friday. They followed with a shutout of Central Lighting of Albany and the easy defeat of the Yamhill Tigers Rage.

That sent the girls to the semifinals, where they beat Canby and ultimately the Breeze.

Competing in the 2000 Challenge Cup in Wilsonville the weekend of June 24-25, the local U-13 club went unbeaten in five matches to claim the championship.

The Clash opened with victories over Hillsboro, West Linn and West Villa to reach the semifinals. In the Hillsboro match, Canby used dramatics to pull out a 4-3 victory, as Mitchell Hipp successfully headed home the winning goal off a corner kick from Nick Elliot as time expired.

Canby had an exceptionally easier time in its next two matches, taking care of West Linn 3-0 and blowing out West Villa 10-0.

The Clash then scored a 1-0 win over Estacada in the semifinals, the only goal coming from Brandon Learfield, to set up a finals matchup with the host club, the West Linn Fusion.

Once there, Canby recorded its fourth straight shutout of the tournament in posting a 4-0 victory. Scoring for the Clash in that match were Travis Lockwood, Learfield, Elliot and Ty Bellmore.

"To perform at this level against teams of this caliber says a lot for this group of kids," head coach Stan Elliot said. "All of these players are Canby kids and will be attending Canby High School. A lot of the teams we play have kids who will be going to four or five high schools.

''Let's just say this bodes well for the future of soccer in Canby. This is a great group of players."

The defensive contingent of Scott Lake, Kevin Learfield, Joe Knopp, Hipp and Johnny Brainard made it easy for Canby goalkeepers Larry Hill and Bellmore. On the offensive end, multiple goal scorers were Brandon Learfield, Bellmore, Elliot and Lockwood. Strong midfield support was provided by Colin Howorth, Tom Greiner, Brandon Trump and Neil Calvert.

With that, Canby staked claim to being the reigning Challenge Cup and Presidents Cup champions, making them one of the better teams in their age division in the state.

About the only thing hotter than the weather of late has been the Canby Gators swim team.

The Gators traveled extensively in June and showed off their swimming skills in several cities around the Northwest. Various components of the team made appearances in Newberg, Gresham and Federal Way, Wash., at meets specific to various ages and abilities.

One portion of the team went to the Chehalem June Open in Newberg on June 10. The meet was closed to "A" time swimmers to let "B" and "C" swimmers have their shot at the top spots.

Another group of team members went to Federal Way for the Pacific Rim 2000 Invitational June 9-11. It was for "A" and "B" swimmers and featured competitors from all over the Pacific Northwest.

A week later, "A" and "B" swimmers went to Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham for the Mt. Hood Invitational, swimming in the beautiful outdoor 50-meter pool at the college.

The Gators fared well in Newberg, where Shauna and Salena Cooper showed the other swimmers the short way around the pool with three first places between them. Shauna boasted firsts in both the 100 individual medley and 50 freestyle, and Salena took gold in the 200 IM.

Meanwhile, Kevin Larkins kept the hit parade going with a first in the 200 IM, and Hannah Garcia, Justin Krettler and Micah Park captured second-place finishes.

Also, Nathan Krettler placed a close third in the 25 backstroke, while Amanda Hilton, Alyssa Mantei and Luke Welle each sported fourth-place swims. Karri-Ann Benthin and Amy Burnham helped the team with fifths. And in relay action, the Gators sported two seconds, one third, one fourth and a seventh. Meanwhile, in Federal Way, the Gators put up good competition against a large and fast field. Led by Jacob Keil's fifth in the 200 backstroke, sixth in the 100 back and seventh in two other events, the team sported five swimmers with top-10 finishes.

Lisa Champ finished with four seventh-place finishes in freestyle and backstroke events, as well as two ninth-place finishes. Joshua Garcia took eighth in the 200 breast and Alex Laskey took ninth in the 50 breast.

Canby also got a 10th from Casey O'Brien in the 200 breast. The boys relay team earned fifth in both the 200 free and 200 medley races.

The following week, June 16-18, the team reported to the Mt. Hood Invitational. There, many of the Canby swimmers met the time standard for zones, senior and age group regionals and the state championships.

Tops in the water were Joshua Garcia, with seven state-qualifying times and two regional times; and Lisa Champ, with two zone times (100 and 200 back), four regional times and nine state times.

James Adams, returning from an earlier announced retirement, had one zone (200 fly) and one regional time (400 IM), along with five state times.

Michelle Maier (400 IM) and Alex Laskey (200 breast) both qualified for regionals.

Corey O'Brien made the regional mark in three events, while in relay action the team of Hannah Garcia, Megan Schuh, Amy Burnham and Shauna Cooper qualified for the state championships in both the 200 free and 200 medley events.

Finally, the boys team of Corey O'Brien, Robert Street, Alex Laskey and James Adams met the regional qualifying mark in the 400 free relay and qualified for state in the 400 medley.