Camas baseball aims for Mountain View

The Camas High School baseball team took care of Columbia River 10-4 Monday. This sets the stage for a league championship showdown between the 9-1 Papermakers and the 8-1 Mountain View Thunder.

The teams play Thursday in Camas and Friday at Mountain View. Both games start at 4 p.m.

“These guys set a goal at the beginning of the season to be league champions. It’s right in front of us now,” said Camas head coach Joe Hallead. “All the hard work we have put into this season has led us to this opportunity. We just have to go out and execute now, and put something on the banner.”

Nate Culver nailed a 2-run double in the second inning to give the Papermakers a 3-0 lead over Columbia River. Nate Lauritzen delivered a 3-run double in the fifth inning to make it a 9-2 advantage for Camas. He also struck out six Chieftains in five innings pitched.

“[Lauritzen] just turned it up a notch [Monday],” Hallead said. “He threw hard on the mound and was on every pitch at the plate. Any time you can get your lead-off batter on base four times in a game, you’re going to be pretty successful.”

The Papermakers beat the Prairie Falcons 9-7 Saturday, at Mountain View High School. Captains Culver and Austin Barr each hit 2-run home runs to lead the offense. Connor McClellan pitched five strong innings to earn the victory on the mound. Lauritzen struck out the last batter with runners on first and third base to pick up the save.

Camas lost to Skyview 4-3 Friday. Dylan White drove in two runs with a double and stole home.

On April 17, the Papermakers broke a 2-2 tie in the top of seventh inning and held on to beat Prairie 4-2. Culver led off the seventh with a double. Pinch hitter Spencer Hunt laid down a bunt for a base hit, and then stole second. Justin Staat gave Camas the lead with a ground ball that resulted in an RBI. Tyler Hallead came through with a suicide squeeze bunt to bring home Hunt. Hallead then shut the door on the mound in the bottom of the seventh to earn the save.