5/19/2010 -   After finishing 10-0 in the Feather River League, the Portola High School baseball team advanced to the semifinals of the Division IV playoffs by defeating Quincy 19-6 in the first round last Friday, May 14.

    With the win, second-seeded Portola hosted third-seeded Biggs Tuesday, May 18. The results weren’t available at press time, but will be posted on plumasnews.com.

    The winner of that game will move on to the division championship game at Shasta College this Saturday, May 22.

    In last Friday’s playoff game between Portola and Quincy, the Quincy Trojans took a 4-0 lead after the first inning, but Portola answered with three runs in the second inning, six in the third and 10 in the fourth. The game ended after five innings due to the 10-run rule.

    “Quincy came out swinging the bat pretty well and kinda jumped on us, but we didn’t panic,” said Portola coach Tim Brubaker. “It was encouraging, considering what a young team we have.”

    Portola pitcher Clinton Morris earned the win after facing 19 batters through four innings and giving up six hits and two earned runs. Rickey Lowdermilk pitched one inning for Portola.

    For Quincy, Jesse Wallace, John Flanigan and Jordon Rose shared the pitching duties.

    On offense, Portola belted out 15 hits. Dillon Soares batted 4-for-4 with four runs, three RBIs and a double.

    “Dill played really well,” said Brubaker. “He had a couple really nice defensive plays, including one in the third inning that helped get us going.”

    Jarrod Fleisher also put up good stats for the Portola Tigers, as he batted 3-for-3 with three runs, three RBIs and a double.

    “Jarrod had a really good game,” said Brubaker. “All through the lineup, the kids did what they had to do.”

    Portola’s Billy Broad tallied two hits, three runs, two RBIs, a double and a triple.

    Kyle Heskett, Piero Selvaggio, Max Stark, Klint Williams, Clinton Morris and Lowdermilk each added one hit for the Tigers.

    For Quincy, Jared Kuipers led with two hits, two runs and a double. Jordan Rose and Andrew Murphy each recorded one hit, one run and one RBI, with Rose hitting a triple.

    Jake Hatzell, Sam Ruttschow and Flanigan each claimed one hit and one RBI. Cal Blanton and Lane Labbe registered one hit and one run apiece.

    Portola ended its regular season with an 11-2 victory over Chester Monday, May 10, to finish league play with an undefeated record.

    “I’m really proud of them,” said Brubaker. “They worked hard. They’re extremely young, and they went above and beyond.”