BEAVERTON — Canby senior designated hitter Clayton Langdale started off the seventh inning with a solo blast to left field to give the team a crucial one-run lead.
Langdale’s leadoff home run would be the eventual game-winner as No. 14 Canby held on to upset No. 6 Mountainside in the quarterfinals of the OSAA 6A Baseball State Championship tournament at Mountainside High School.
“It was a great game, a very close game,” Langdale said. “That’s a good team over there, and they competed hard. They had a solid pitcher that kept us off balance in the box. We just found a way. That’s really it.”
Canby (18-12) goes on to face No. 7 Clackamas in the semifinals on Tuesday. Clackamas defeated No. 18 Lake Oswego 6-1 on Friday.
“Every day is a blessing to be with these guys. They’re a lot of fun to be around,” Canby coach J.J. Stolsig said. “The tournament is tough. Obviously, anyone can win it. It’s baseball. It’s different, but we’re pretty pumped, and the kids are excited for the next challenge.”
Langdale was 2-3 on Friday with the home run and a single in the second inning.
Leading off the top of the seventh inning with a 0-0 stalemate, Langdale just wanted to reach first base.
“My thought was that I’m getting a base hit,” he said. “I’m going to help my team, I’m going to be a runner on, and we’re just going to move station-to-station. My goal can’t be to hit a home run because that’s not realistic, but hitting a line drive—a hard-hit ball—is (realistic). That’s all I was thinking.”
The Cougars senior added that when he made contact with the ball, he wasn’t sure whether it would end up going out of the park. He just knew it would go far.
“Barreling up a baseball is the best feeling ever,” Langdale said. “It doesn’t feel like much, but you know when you don’t feel it, you got it. It’s great.”
Friday’s quarterfinal game at Mountainside High School was a pitchers’ duel.
Canby’s starter, senior Jason Noffsinger, went six innings and allowed zero runs on four hits and got one strikeout to get the win.
“That plays a big part. Without our great defense and great pitching, that makes it a lot tougher,” Langdale said. “They had some good guys in their lineup. Our pitcher, Noffsinger, did a very good job to keep them off balance. He pitched a great game.”
Mountainside’s starting pitcher, junior Austin Wolfe, pitched a complete game. Taking the tough-luck loss, Wolfe allowed one run on four hits and totaled 11 strikeouts.
“I thought it was a great pitchers’ duel. Austin pitched great,” Mountainside coach Ryan Fobert said. “I lost track of how many strikeouts he had, but he battled. Sometimes, it happens. One pitch, and that happens.”
Wolfe pitched himself out of trouble early. In the top of the second inning after Canby loaded the bases and with no outs, Wolfe went on to strikeout out the next three Canby hitters to leave the runners stranded and preserve a 0-0 tie.
“That just shows the type of kid and the type of character he has,” Fobert said about Wolfe getting out of the second inning. “To have those things not go our way—just little bunts for hits, and bases loaded with no outs—to just bulldog up and strike the next three guys out, and respond in that positive way, it’s huge for anybody. I’m really proud of him for that. That was huge.”
Noffsinger was relieved by senior Joe Brauckmiller, who started the game in left field, going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Brauckmiller retired Mountainside’s next three batters for the save.
“We were hoping to get four innings out of Jason, but he threw a heck of a game and went six,” Stolsig said. “But when you have your best guy ready, for one inning, you don’t save him. You use him. Joe said he wanted the ball. We gave it to him, and he produced.”
Mountainside ended its 2022 season with a 22-7 record.
“This was our first real full season with seniors since we opened up as a school,” Fobert said. “Our last full season, we were 6-20. This year, we finished the regular season 20-6. This group of seniors, to be able to turn the program around and set the foundation for us moving forward, it’s huge. They built this foundation for us to continue on and build for the future. They did great. Just resilience all year. It was good.”
