SPRING VALLEY HS – The Spring Valley Grizzlies hosted the South Eugene Axeman on Saturday. The Axeman were looking to close out their spring break trip, which included wins over Bonanza and Clark and a loss to Cimarron, on a postive note.  Grizzlies starter, ’20 Ryan Steinhauer was hoping to secure a win for the hometown hosts.  The Axeman scored three in the second against Spring Valley with two outs.  Steinhauer would do all that he could to keep the Grizzlies in the game through 4 innings, surrendering three unearned runs on 4 hits with just one walk.  '21 Chasyn Love who started at shortstop relieved Steinhauer, holding the Axeman at bay until the seventh.  South Eugene starter, ’20 Bryce Boettcher would prove a worthy adversary, throwing a complete game. Boettcher scattered 2 hits and yielded just one run until the seventh when he noticeably tired. The Grizzlies battled to the bitter end, plating two with two hits in the final frame.

Spring Valley was 2-2 on the week with wins over Clark and Durango. Centerfielder '20 Chase Rodriguez was 6-14 on the week. PBR Nevada takes a closer look at Chase Rodriguez.

’20 Chase Rodriguez, CF (Spring Valley)

Athletic, 6-foot 170, Rodriguez is a capable outfielder. He displayed the ability to both come in and go back on balls, making catches with relative ease. The limited look provided one opportunity to  throw under pressure in which he approached the ball broke down and made an on target throw.  He threw from a 3/4 slot with some arm side run, showing awareness for the movement. At the plate, Rodriguez set up tall with knees slightly knocked in, maintaining a simple knee to knee lower half load as hands go back into a lower slot.  He was selectively aggressive on balls in the zone and adjusted with two strikes.