It’s not uncommon for regular season softball to give fans a small preview of the state tournament. Many good teams like to schedule other good teams throughout the season as a test for the players.
But it’s been 14 years since the two teams playing for a Class 6A softball state championship came from the same district. And that’s what we will get on Saturday afternoon, as Three Rivers League rivals No. 1 Tigard and No. 3 Oregon City will battle it out one last time with the gold on the line.
Getting to the state championship game, the top-seeded Tigers picked up a big 6-3 win over McNary with some big hitting coming from the top half of the lineup. The Pioneers traveled to Bend for their semifinals game, stunning the No. 2 Lava Bears 4-0 in a nine-inning slugfest.
Tigard and Oregon City split the season series. The Tigers won the first game 1-0 (10 innings) in a pitchers duel between Tigard’s Makenna Reid and Oregon City’s Lily Riley on April 15. Oregon City got their win back on May 12, beating the Tigers 5-1. Both games were played at Tigard High School.
Having played each other a couple of times already, there’s no love lost between the two Three Rivers League teams.
“We know them. So we’ve just got to fight,” said Tigard left fielder Hailey White after the Tigers’ semifinals game on Tuesday.
Tigard is coming into Saturday’s game as the older team. The Tigers have eight seniors on the roster, led by ace pitcher Makenna Reid. The future Florida State Seminole has pitched 189 innings this season, allowing 57 hits, 13 earned runs and 33 walks. She has a 0.481 ERA with 417 strikeouts.
Defensively, Tigard is nearly in a league of its own. Through 31 games played this year, the Tigers have have allowed just 1.2 runs scored per game. This is tied for first in the state with Bend.
On offense, Tigard is scoring an average of 6 runs per game. The top of the Tigard batting lineup has been deadly. Leadoff hitter Ella Dardis has a 0.353 batting average and has scored a team-leading 25 runs. Catcher Karen Spadafora has a 0.379 batting average with a team-high 35 RBIs and 11 of Tigard’s 17 home runs this season. Senior third baseman Kani Korok leads the team with a 0.398 batting average and 30 RBIs.
“I’m excited,” said Korok about the third game against the Pioneers. “It’s really the adrenaline. They got one win. We got one win. We’re battling for it all. They’re a good team and they gave us a run for our money. We’re excited to play them.”
Lily Riley has been the Pioneers’ ace all season. The sophomore has pitched 101 innings with a 1.386 ERA. She has allowed 56 hits, walked 41 batters and given up 20 earned runs while striking out 157.
The Pioneers have allowed 2.6 runs scored per game this season, while scoring an average of 6.9 runs per game.
Allyson Nordling has been one of the biggest offensive threats for the Pioneers all season. The junior has a 0.427 batting average with a team-high eight home runs and 37 RBIs. Senior Phoebe Borkus has a 0.439 batting average with 25 RBIs. Junior shortstop Gina Allen has a 0.357 batting average with 26 RBIs and a team-high 34 runs scores.
Oregon City coach MacKenzie Washington said the key for the Pioneers in this postseason run has been a big mental flip from early in the season.
“Our biggest strength in the state tournament has been being able to believe in ourselves,” she said. “At the beginning of the season we were losing close games, and I just kept telling the girls that we were learning how to win and that close games would start to fall our way.”
As the Pioneers started to win close games, Washington said the players’ confidence grew and they were able to handle the pressure of close games.
“We often joke that the real game doesn’t start until the 7th inning,” she said.
Knowing each other so well, both teams know how to get a win over the other. And both teams said the key to Saturday’s game will be the same thing: stay focused mentally and get the ball in play.
“I think we just need to get our bats going,” said White. “We have a good defense. So I think it’s just our bats.”
Korok added that the Tigers need to make sure that they don’t get thrown off their game just because it’s the state championship game.
“We just need to stay within ourselves,” said Korok. “We can’t make the moment bigger than it actually is. It is the championship game, but at the end of the day, we grew up on this field and we know how to play the game.”
After getting a huge win over Bend, Washington said the Pioneers have never been more ready for this game.
“Coming off of the game vs Bend, and facing Addisen Fisher, I think we will be better prepared for MaKenna,” said Washington. “I expect this game, like all our others, to be close and come down to a few key plays, so we just need to keep the moment within reach and play one at bat, one inning at a time.”
Saturday’s game will also be the first time that Tigard has played on dirt all season. Korok and White both agreed that while this will be new for the team, as the ball reacts differently in play, every player plays enough club ball on dirt that the game will not be affected by the new environment.
The championship game will be on Saturday at Jane Saunders Stadium at the University of Oregon. The game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
— Nik Streng, nstreng@oregonian.com, @NikStreng
