BATTLE GROUND’S Colin Rubino (21) slides into second base during the Tigers’ game with Mountain View Friday at Battle Ground High School. Rubino, a senior second baseman, is one of Battle Ground’s three senior co-captains.
SENIOR PARKER RANDLE (22) is Battle Ground’s cleanup hitter this season. Randle, shown here in Friday’s game with Mountain View at Battle Ground High School, was an all-league first-team selection last season.
CATCHER GUNNER TALKINGTON (4) is a switch hitter and Battle Ground coach Billy Hayes credits the sophomore with the ability to shut down other team’s running game.
PITCHER TYLER RUSSELL (42) delivers a pitch during Battle Ground’s game with Mountain View Friday at Battle Ground High School. The Tigers suffered their first defeat of the season, losing 11-6 to the Thunder.
Battle Ground High School baseball coach Billy Hayes can always count on one thing from his players each season – they will compete.
“Tough, tough, tough,’’ said Hayes, when asked to describe his 2015 team. “That’s the underlying element of all of it. It’s the toughness of the kids. Opposing coaches tell their teams, ‘That’s their MO (modus operandi). They’re tough. Don’t give up on them because they’re not going to give up.’’’
This year’s Battle Ground team has already shown that to be the case in the early stages of the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League season. The Tigers opened up the season with come-from-behind wins over Skyview and Camas and even after an 11-6 loss to Mountain View on Friday, Battle Ground sits atop the league standings with a 2-1 record.
“We’re tough,’’ Hayes said. “That’s how you describe our team pretty much every year. We’re scrappers, we’re grinders, we’re tough.’’
The Tigers are also talented.
Battle Ground enters the season with one of the youngest rosters in the league. However, the Tigers are led by a pair of outstanding seniors in Parker Randle and Colin Rubino.
Randle, a returning all-GSHL performer from a year ago, plays right field and bats cleanup for Battle Ground. He has already committed to play football next season at Southern Oregon University, according to Hayes.
“He’s got a lot of tools to his game; he’s a very good player,’’ Hayes said of Randle. “He’s very athletic and a big part of our team.’’
Rubino is the Tigers’ second baseman and leadoff hitter. He has committed to play baseball next season at Bellevue University, an NAIA school in Nebraska.
“He has amazing quicks,’’ Hayes said of Rubino. “He can get from one spot to another very fast. Defensively, he is one of the best players I’ve ever coached.’’
First baseman Derek Lahti is Battle Ground’s third senior co-captain.
“The bigfella leads our toughness,’’ Hayes said of Lahti.
Sophomore Michael Spellacy leads a talented group of sophomores on the Battle Ground roster this season. He was second-team all-league last season as a freshman.
“That guy gets it done on all sides,’’ Hayes said of Spellacy. “He can swing it. He can play defense. He’s our closer (pitcher).’’
Hayes said Spellacy has already made visits to Division I programs such as Gonzaga, Notre Dame, Oregon and University of Washington.
“He’s looking at the ‘big boys,’’’ Hayes said.
Another key sophomore for the Tigers this season is centerfielder Isaiah Smith, who was second-team all-GSHL last season.
“This kid has a ceiling that’s unbelievable,’’ Hayes said of Smith. “He has size, speed, strength. He’s very talented.’’
Catcher Gunner Talkington is another of the Tigers’ talented sophomores. Hayes said Talkington, who was all-league honorable mention last season, has already thrown out
thrown out five baserunners in Battle Ground’s first three games of the season.
“He just completely shuts down the other team’s running game,’’ Hayes said of Talkington.’’
Sophomore Curtis Stradley is Battle Ground’s third baseman and another one of the Tigers’ key performers. Sophomore Austin Adams plays several different positions and also serves as Battle Ground’s designated hitter on occasion.
Hayes concedes the Tigers may not have the most outstanding pitchers in the GSHL this season, but he expects his young hurlers to continue to get better as the season goes along.
Senior Chris Waters, junior Riley Betcher and freshman Tyler Russell are at the top of the Tigers’ pitching rotation. Hayes said Russell is a hard thrower, hitting the radar gun in the “mid-80s.’’ Betcher is more of an off-speed pitcher.
Senior Amerik Velasquez is a lefthander who serves as Battle Ground’s middle reliever and junior Austin Parrish will also see time on the mound.
Because of the expanded 4A division of the GSHL, 18 of Battle Ground’s 20 regular season games will be league games. The only non-league games are Wed., March 25 against Prairie and a matchup with Bellevue over spring break.
“That means every game is a playoff game now,’’ Hayes said. “That’s how we approach it.’’
Hayes believes his team’s intestinal fortitude has already been tested with the early season comeback wins over Skyview and Camas and that the Tigers passed those tests.
“We have a lot of common goal guys,’’ Hayes said of his team. “Our guys get after it. There’s no ‘I’ guys on this team. This is a special group.’’
Hayes said the key to the Tigers’ success this season will be the pitching.
“If our pitching keeps us in the games, we have enough tools in the rest of the game to keep us competitive,’’ Hayes said.
