Leonardo tosses three-hitter to pace No. 11 Eagles, while third-seeded Crater wins in a six-inning romp

Battle-tested against some of the best Class 5A softball programs the state has to offer, Eagle Point didn’t play anything like an underdog Tuesday in Hood River during the first round of the state playoffs.

Facing sixth-seeded Hood River Valley, the No. 11 Eagles took the lead from the get-go and never relinquished it to secure a 4-2 triumph and a quarterfinals date Friday against a familiar foe in Midwestern League rival Crater.

Eagle Point finished third in the MWL standings behind Thurston and Crater, the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds in the 5A state playoffs. Fourth-place North Eugene, which gained the final playoff spot, nearly knocked off No. 1 Ridgeview in a 2-1 contest Tuesday.

Eagle Point junior Brylee Leonardo kept Hood River Valley (21-6) on its heels throughout, spinning a three-hitter without allowing an earned run in a complete-game effort. Leonardo struck out eight and walked two, facing her only issue in the fourth inning when a single and a hit batter was followed by an error that allowed two runs to score.

Leonardo wound up sitting down HRV in order over the final three frames, collecting half of her strikeouts in the process.

Eagle Point (16-11) staked Leonardo to an early lead when Sarah Estes supplied a one-out double and eventually scored following two wild pitches by starter Grace Rowan.

In the top of the fourth inning, EP scored three runs to build a 4-0 cushion. Allison Martin and Riley Jacoby opened the frame with consecutive singles before Leonardo hit into a fielder’s choice to negate the lead runner.

After a strikeout by Rowan, she couldn’t get off the hook as No. 9 hitter Reese Zirkle came through with an RBI single and then Madi Dean ripped a two-run double to left-center.

Martin and Estes each finished with two of Eagle Point’s seven hits.

Eagle Point was swept in the three-game league series with Crater this spring, with two of those games resulting in runaway wins for the Comets in 12-1 and 10-0 affairs. The middle game of the series, however, saw Crater need late heroics to pull out a 6-5 home victory.

CRATER 11, HILLSBORO 0, 6 inn.: At Central Point, Allyson Nottingham pitched a six-hit shutout and went 3-for-4 to help propel No. 3-seeded Crater to an opening win in the Class 5A state playoffs.

The Midwestern League champion Comets (20-8) scored in double figures for the sixth straight game to extend their winning streak to 11 games entering Friday’s quarterfinal matchup with No. 11 Eagle Point.

Crater hasn’t allowed a run in four consecutive games.

Amanda Hammer also went 3-for-4, belting a home run to help drive in two runs and score twice. Danika Brackett went 2-for-3 with one run and three RBIs, while Taylor Ryan, Khloe Cochran and Gracey Thomas each contributed two hits and one RBI and Abbey Canfield went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

Crater, which amassed 16 hits overall, led 3-0 through four innings before breaking the game open with a six-run fifth inning against 14th-seeded Hillsboro (12-14).

Baseball

WEST ALBANY 5, CRATER 4: At Central Point, seventh-seeded Crater loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh but could only come away with one run to fall short in its 5A state playoff opener at Anhorn Field.

Zack Harrington singled and Morgan Austin drew a four-pitch walk to open the final at-bat for the Comets (17-10) and put an end to the day for West Albany reliever Caden Guerin-Knoll. Andrew Sweet then dropped down a perfectly executed bunt that reliever Drew Rice couldn’t make a play on down the third-base line to load the bases.

Gage Ayers followed with a shallow flyball out to right-center field to hold all runners, then Rice got a swinging strikeout by Tanner Keith on a 2-2 offering for a second out. Kasen Orr, Crater’s No. 9 hitter, was then hit on a 2-0 count to bring home a run and put the tying run 90 feet away.

Leadoff hitter Mason Snopl then made good contact on a 1-2 pitch but his line drive kept going head-high and was pulled in for a flyout to center field to end the contest for the Midwestern League runner-up.

Snopl, Harrington and Austin each had two hits to pace Crater, with Ronix Kezer and Alex Johnson plating one run apiece.

Tenth-seeded West Albany (16-10), the 5A runner-up the past two seasons, advanced to face MWL champion Thurston in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Reach sports editor Kris Henry at kris.henry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035