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Comets hope it's Strate to the top Photo by Drew Fleming Kenny Strate makes his fourth straight visit to the state playoffs today when the Comets host Forest Grove. Star outfielder is the catalyst By DON HUNT You could say that Kenny Strate has had the good fortune of playing on some Crater High baseball teams that have been among the best in school history. Or you could say the Comets have had the good fortune of having someone like Strate play for them. Each, certainly, has been good for the other. The Comets have posted an eye-catching 90-20 record since Strate first began roaming the outfield with the speed of a gazelle and the grace of a ballerina as a freshman three years ago. Four trips to the state playoffs and one state championship have accompanied the Comets since Strate was first called up to the varsity in 1998. Crater, 20-6, opens play in this year's state playoffs at 4 p.m. today when it is host to Forest Grove at Anhorn Field. In other games involving the SOC, Gresham visits Ashland, North Medford travels to North Eugene and Roseburg goes to Bend. "Kenny Strate is a tremendous outfielder, one of the best I've had in my years at Crater," Comets head coach Chuck Dominiak says. "He reads how the ball comes off the bat so well. He gets a tremendous jump and runs balls down that other outfielders wouldn't even get to. "And he makes it look so easy." Adds assistant coach Ray Smith: "Kenny Strate is two outfielders in one." Strate is equally valuable on offense. He leads the Comets in batting average (.438), hits (44), doubles (8) and triples (5) from his leadoff position despite playing most of the season with a pulled quadriceps muscle in his right leg. "I've lost probably a half-step," Strate says. "I haven't been as aggressive on the bases as I was last year, but lately my leg has felt close to 100 percent. "I think I'll be back to my old self for the playoffs." Strate looked to be at full strength last week against North Medford. He went 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs in fueling Crater to a 9-5 victory in the final regular-season game that left the two teams tied for second place in the SOC. In a state seeding game against the Tornado three days later, Strate went 2-for-3 in a 3-1 victory that earned the Comets a home game in the first round of the playoffs. "He's always been a clutch hitter," Dominiak says. "He thrives on pressure." As one of only two starters back from last season's state championship team, Strate attempted to shoulder much of the burden to produce in the early going, Dominiak says. "He swung at some bad pitches and ran himself into some outs on the bases," Dominiak says. "But then he realized that we had other kids who could get the job done. All they needed was a few games under their belts." Today's game against Forest Grove matches teams with similar credentials. Like the Comets, the Vikings lost seven starters from their 2000 squad that lost to Crater, 7-1, in the state quarterfinals. And like the Comets, Forest Grove has overcome its inexperience in 2001. The Vikings, 19-6 overall, finished tied for second place with Tualatin in the Pacific-9 Conference but were handed the No. 3 seed on a tiebreaker. Forest Grove is led by pitcher Derrick Jones, a junior right-hander who posted a 5-3 record and batted .520. Jones, whose three losses have come by scores of 1-0, 1-0 and 3-1, is scheduled to start today's contest for the Vikings. "We rode his back this season," Forest Grove coach Joe Baumgartner says. "He's our best pitcher and our best hitter." Forest Grove's other returning starter is center fielder Julio McDaniel. "It looks like our teams mirror each other to some degree," Baumgartner says. "Each team has a lot of new faces." The playoffs are old hat to Strate, however, and the Comets hope his experience and composure will rub off on the younger players. GRESHAM AT ASHLAND - Ashland, coming off its first SOC championship, enters the postseason against a Gopher team that already owns a playoff victory. Gresham, the No. 4 team from the Mount Hood League, downed Lake Oswego 7-2 Friday in a subtournament contest. Ashland, ranked ninth and 16-7 overall, will send Mike Allen to the mound. Allen went 6-0 in SOC play with a 1.37 ERA. The Grizzlies' offense will be fueled by third baseman Titus Weston and first baseman Bill Rowe. Weston batted .372 in league and scored 14 runs. Rowe hit .325 with 14 RBIs, 10 runs and three home runs. Gresham defeated Lake Oswego behind the five-hit pitching of Chad Boom, who struck out eight, including five of the last six batters. He also doubled and knocked in two runs. In the Gophers' playoff-clinching win over Parkrose three days earlier, it was Matt York doing the honors on the mound, giving up three hits and striking out 10 in a 10-1 win. Boom had three hits, including two doubles. NORTH MEDFORD AT NORTH EUGENE - With one freshman and three sophomores in its starting lineup, North Medford is surely one of the youngest teams in the playoffs. However, the Black Tornado (15-11) is not without talent. Freshman catcher Rob Folsom and senior third baseman Shawn Backstrom are both batting over .400, senior Phil Ouellette is one of the top outfielders in the SOC and junior pitcher Brent Kircher, who is scheduled to be on the mound today, has won seven of his 10 starts. North Eugene, meanwhile, is one of the hottest teams in the state. The Highlanders won their final eight games of the regular season, including a 3-2, nine-inning victory over No. 4-ranked Sheldon in their season finale. North Eugene and Sheldon tied for the Midwestern League title with 13-3 records, but the Highlanders were granted the No. 1 seed on a tiebreaker. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.