No. 1 seed West Linn (25-6) punched its ticket to the OSAA 6A baseball state championship game and now has a chance to repeat as 6A state champs.
The Lions defeated Three Rivers League rival No. 4 Lake Oswego (24-7) 6-4 in the 6A state semifinals Tuesday at West Linn High School.
“I mean, obviously, don’t think ahead, but we’re all obviously thinking in the back of our minds (about going) back-to-back,” said West Linn senior first baseman Jake Holmes. “Today was a battle, and it’s going to be a bigger battle on Saturday. So, we’ve just got to play our game. Hopefully, we come out on top. We’re excited.”
West Linn will face No. 2 Jesuit (26-5) for the 6A state championship on Saturday at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.
“That was a tough game, a tough opponent,” said West Linn head coach Joe Monahan. “(Two of the) top-three teams in the TRL this year in a game like this, and maybe in the top five, it can go either way. That was a classic league battle right there. It just happens to be in a semifinal. We scored enough runs to hang on. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit.”
The Crusaders beat No. 6 North Medford 4-2 in the semifinals Tuesday at Jesuit High School.
“I really don’t think about back-to-back state titles,” Monahan said about the chance to repeat. “I just think about coaching our team up and getting the most out of our players every year. We’re just trying to do that again this year, and we’re in a position of winning it again this year. We’re going to face a very, very tough Jesuit team. They, obviously, have a fully rested player on the mound who’s probably going in the top-10 picks in the draft. We have our work cut out, but you know what? We’ve got guys that don’t give up runs either. So, we know we’re capable of putting zeros on the board from a pitching standpoint. We’ve just got to go out there, shorten our swings, and compete.”
West Linn scored three runs in each of the first two innings to take an early 6-0 lead.
Holmes knocked a two-RBI home run in the bottom of the first inning to right field. Holmes ended up going 2 for 2 with a home run and a single, totaled 2 RBIs, and once reached first base on an error.
“Obviously, you never want to swing for home runs, but I knew,” Holmes said of the homer. “I was sitting on a first-pitch fastball. Got my foot down, and it was high and outside. Just tried to drive it the other way. Got all of it, and it went far.”
He added: “It was phenomenal. The feeling of running around the bases, I can’t even describe it. All the fans behind me, too. Everyone got my back. It felt good coming through for them.”
Holmes said that playing against a league rival in the state tournament adds excitement, but he ultimately respects his opponent.
“I mean, to be honest, I love all of those boys,” he said about playing against the Lakers in the semifinals. “Those are all my guys, but when it’s game time, obviously, it doesn’t matter. But besides that, those are my boys. I have a lot of respect for everyone over there—coaches, players, and all of that.”
Then in the bottom of the second inning, Lions sophomore outfielder Baron Naone hit a two-RBI single to left field to add to West Linn’s early lead.
“Well, our hitters were staying with the pitch,” Monahan said. “They went the opposite field pretty well. They had situational hitting where we got a sac fly to score a run. Moved the guy over on a bunt. Kind of chipped away at those first six runs. Of course, when Jake Holmes hit that home run to right field, that ball was crushed. He just stayed with it with his head on the barrel, and he’s capable of hitting the ball as far as anybody in the state. He crushed it.”
Lake Oswego, though, wouldn’t go away quietly. The Lakers scored a couple of runs in the third and fourth innings each to cut into the Lions’ lead.
Lakers senior starting pitcher Declan Francis knocked a two-RBI single to center field in the top of the third inning.
Francis ended the game going 3 for 4 with a double and two singles, had two RBIs and once struck out.
In the top of the seventh inning, facing a two-run deficit and with two outs, Francis hit a double to left field to keep the Lakers’ hopes of a comeback alive.
However, in the ensuing at-bat, senior third baseman Bryan Ramirez grounded out to the second baseman to end the contest.
“I’m proud of my teammates. I’m happy we didn’t just roll over and give up,” Francis said. “I gave up a few runs. Even though I gave up some runs in the first and second, I’m happy with the way I responded. I made some good adjustments, and I had some good swings at the plate as well. Ultimately, I’m just really proud of my teammates for putting up a fight and showing that we deserve respect.”
Monahan said Francis adjusted well in the later innings throwing against his team.
“Their pitcher is really good. He settled down. He was hitting his spots and threw strikes,” Monahan said. “He kept the ball down, and he got ahead in innings. We’d get one or two outs before we’d get a runner on. He’d get hits with two outs, and we weren’t able to put them across the plate. So, you’ve got to give Declan credit. He just did a great job of making adjustments after two innings, and he gave them a chance to get back in the ball game with his bat as well. He swung it well. He did everything he could.”
In the top fifth inning, Francis got on base with a leadoff single and later reached second base. Later on in the inning as senior second baseman Brodie Heher reached base on a fielder’s choice, Francis rounded third base and went for home.
However, Francis was called out at home plate to end the inning, preserving the Lion’s 6-4 lead.
“I think I could have been called safe if I had just been wheeling all the way around third,” Francis said of the play. “It’s not like, I wasn’t really expecting my coach to send me, but I didn’t take an aggressive turn like I should have. I believe I was safe. I believe I got my hand in there. Obviously, it’s a close play. The umpire could have got a not so great angle. Sometimes, you get the call. Sometimes, you don’t. When you don’t, you just suck it up and move on.”
Francis added that though the loss is disappointing, the team showed its mettle by reaching the state semifinals.
“First of all, just a massive season,” the Lakers senior said. “I think we destroyed some expectations. As a team last year, I think we were not even a No. 16 or higher seed. We didn’t have a home playoff game. Especially early in the season, we showed that we can hang in games and showed that we can play ball. We’ve improved a lot, and we’ve worked really hard in the offseason. Even though we lost here today, we as a program earned some respect that we didn’t have.”
West Linn totaled six runs on seven hits, left six runners on base and had two errors.
Lions junior starting pitcher Gabe Howard took the win. Howard went three and two-thirds innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits and had three strikeouts and one walk.
Lake Oswego totaled four runs–two of which were unearned—on six hits, left five runners on base and had three errors.
Francis took the loss. He went all six innings and had six strikeouts and four walks.
