We’re a day late this week, but no dollars short in this week’s baseball notebook. Let’s get after it!
Earning their stripes
In 2022, the first full season following Covid, the Newberg Tigers won just twice and lost 24 times. One year later, they went 8-18, then 6-21, when many of the team’s key seniors were sophomores getting their first taste of varsity.
Last year, Newberg was 13-14, a vast improvement by any measure. The Tigers made the playoffs for the first time in 10+ years but still finished fifth in the Pacific Conference and ended the year winning just two of their last 11 games.
So you can be excused if you viewed this year’s fast 5-0 start, which mirrored last year; as something of a mirage.
Nine games later, however, it is required that you give Andrew Reichenbach’s experienced, senior-dominated team its props. Newberg is 13-1, leads the Pacific Conference standings by 2.5 games, and responded to its first loss of the season, to McMinnville on April 13, by exacting two games’ worth of revenge over the two-time defending conference champions, 13-9 and 8-3.
“It was a super fun series for sure!” Reichenbach, in his sixth year heading the program, exclaimed. “McMinnville is an awesome program that has great coaches and great players, so it was great to compete with them last week.
“One of the biggest things for us was how we kept responding in the right ways whenever adversity hit. We embodied our core value of ‘attacking adversity.’ Each game was a full team effort, with each guy, playing or not, helping contribute to our success.”
On Monday, Newberg backed up the series win over McMinnville with a 2-1 victory over Glencoe. The teams play again today and tomorrow before Newberg stares down perennial power Sherwood – where Baltimore Oriole Adley Rutschman played – over three games next week.
Reichenbach says that if his players were uncertain how they might compete before the season, they are all in now.
“I think we knew that we could have success before the season started with the group that we have and the time and energy they have poured into it the last few years, but I think they are finally seeing that they can beat good teams if we continue to focus on us and do the little things the right way,” he said. “They are a tight-knit group that loves each other and plays with and for each other at all times.”
Not breaking
Bend is 9-2 over its last 11 games after a 3-3 start and currently is tied atop the Intermountain Conference Standings with Ridgeview at 6-2. The Lava Bears have one game left with Mountain View on Friday after splitting the first two games, winning 23-9 while losing 6-5. Mountain View is 4-1 in league play, tied with Summit, the defending 5A state champion.
Bend coach Quinn Clair said that a difficult Spring Break slate in Arizona helped prepare his team for the rugged IMC.
“We try to play the hardest preseason schedule that we can,” he explained. “We want to play the best.”
Thus far, in league play, Bend took two of three from vastly improved Caldera and swept league newcomer Crook County before the split with Mountain View.
“We have six senior starters and, each game, one or two of them have had huge games,” Clair said. “They have not all lined up together yet, so when we put some games together like that, look out!”
Senior 1B Spencer Dildine, senior OF Lewis Knapp and senior INF Quentin Romney are among the players who have distinguished themselves to this point in the season.
No longer going south
One year after an undefeated regular season, South Salem has rebounded from a 2-4 start to win nine of its last 10 games, including a 14-4 rout on Monday of Wilsonville, the other team to have an undefeated regular season in 2025.
“I’m happy with how we’re progressing,” said Saxon head coach Jesse Price. “It’s been a very different experience from last year. Last year kind of felt like we could just roll the balls out and win every day. This year is just a little bit different kind of challenge, one that I think we’re all deeply invested in and truly enjoying.”
“We have a lot of guys who are new to varsity baseball – not young, necessarily, just new to it – so it’s taken a bit to get them used to the speed, pressure, and little things that good varsity baseball is built upon,” Price added. “Last year’s team also played together essentially from t-ball all the way up through high school, so meshing the new-to-varsity players this year with the returning players just took a bit more strategized planning. They’ve really come together, though. As coaches, we thought we’d be about 5-5 to start the year, and sure enough, we were. We’ve also been plugging and playing a few different players between JV and Varsity, and between multiple positions. We feel like things are starting to set pretty well. We certainly won’t go undefeated the rest of the way, but we feel like we’re in a really strong position.”
Make way for the king
Two-time defending 2A/1A state champion Umpqua Valley Christian got off to a slow 3-5 start to 2026. The Monarchs lost more games over the first three weeks of the season than they did all of 2025!
It appears they have righted the ship.
Since April 10, Dave York’s team has won six straight games, outscoring opponents 57-7 during that stretch. One of the wins, an 11-0 shutout of Lowell on Monday, dropped the Devils from the ranks of the unbeaten.
“Lowell has been playing very well, and we haven’t,” York said after the game. “So, yesterday, it was a bit of a reverse. We played very well, got a great outing from Teagan Sprague on the mound (six innings & 11 Ks), and we got contributions from up and down the lineup. Our guys played well and played together.
“My hope is that this is more of who we are than the way we’ve played earlier in the year.”
UVC gets Lowell again on May 1 and May 13.
Undefeated
Lowell’s loss to UVC – the Devils lost again yesterday, 8-4, to North Douglas / Elkton – means there are now only two OSAA teams still undefeated, Taft and Crosshill Christian.
Taft (17-0) faced a stiff test on Tuesday versus perennial power Santiam Christian. The Tigers, however, took control of the game from the start. They scored a single run in the second and put up crooked numbers in the third and fourth innings to take a 6-0 lead. Lonnie West, who blanked Santiam Christian through five, ran into some trouble in the sixth and surrendered four runs, on a couple of hits, a walk and two errors; to make things interesting, before Hayden Weiss came on and closed the game out on just seven pitches.
Callen Ward drove in two for Taft, which got multi-hit games from Levi Lillebo and Zack Hankins.
Taft’s next test starts next Wednesday, when the Tigers open a two-game series with Blanchet Catholic, the defending 3A state champions.
***
Since last week’s Notebook, Crosshill Christian has won three games to improve its record to 13-0. None was competitive. The Eagles have a doubleheader on Friday they should handle before staring down adversity for the first time since opening day in the form of Regis, a contender in 2A/1A the past five seasons. That three-game set begins on Tuesday at Regis.
News and notes…
In Monday's 14-4 win over Wilsonville, South Salem senior shortstop Sawyer Nelson hit his sixth homerun of the season. Nelson now has 23 career homers, putting him alone atop the school career home run list. With 122 career runs batted in, he sits just three behind former teammate Gavin Price for the state all-time RBI mark.
Nelson may not be the all-time RBI kind at the end of the year, however. He will be challenged by his teammate, Teagan Scott. Scott, a senior catcher, has 117 career runs driven in, thanks to his eighth homer of the season on Monday immediately following Nelson’s dinger.
Between those two, nearly every offensive record at the school has been broken. As of Tuesday, Scott is the program record holder for career hits (133), singles (81), doubles (36), and walks (101); Nelson is the program record holder for career homeruns (23), stolen bases (64), and runs scored (160).
***
You won’t find Jesse Hernandez listed among this week’s stolen base leaders. The senior infielder from Country Christian / North Clackamas Christian had 17, one short of the threshold, through Saturday’s games. Hernandez now has 22, however, after five steals in Monday’s 9-4 win over Colton…
***
Tualatin’s pitching staff has been dealing! The Timberwolves blanked Jesuit, 5-0, on April 10, then followed up with 5-0 and 9-0 wins over Lakeridge. Tualatin ended up sweeping the Pacers on Friday, but not before seeing its streak of pitching goose eggs halted at 22 innings. The scoreless streak included innings pitched by Trenton Hertzog, Ben Fong, Shane Haddad Jr., Parker McCormack, and Cole Newton.
***
Toledo earned a statement win on Friday, defeating Reedsport, 15–4, on the road for the program’s first victory there in five years.
Braden Marthaller led the charge at the plate, going 5-for-5 with a double and seven RBIs. Maddox Law added a perfect day of his own, finishing 4-for-4 with a walk while scoring five runs…
***
Klamath Union won five straight games from April 8 to April 17, the longest win streak for the Pelicans in at least a dozen years.
In one of the wins, a 10-0 shutout of Cottage Grove on Friday, senior PJ Safford threw a one-hit shutout, striking out nine. Tildon Coffman was 3-for-3 with three RBI and Aryson Swaim had a key 2-run single in the fourth.
KU’s streak came to an end on Tuesday in an 11-1 loss to Hidden Valley, the Pelicans’ 32nd straight loss to the Mustangs dating back 11 years. The teams clash again today…
Stats Categories
We continue with our baseball stats categories. The goal is to have 10-15 players per category list. Stats thresholds are adjusted week-by-week for that reason.
Baseball coaches exclusively contributed to the population of these categories.
Baseball coaches who did not contribute, but wish to, may contact John Tawa at johnt@osaa.org to learn how to get their players on these lists.
Going going gone goodbye!
Everyone digs the long ball.
Here, we recognize those Oregonians who have cleared the fences three or more times so far this season.
7 – Teagan Scott, senior C, South Salem
5 – Sawyer Nelson, senior SS, South Salem
4 – Ty Hattenhauer, senior INF, Caldera
3 – Zadek Bowlby, senior 1B, Newberg
3 – Hunter Rivers, senior 3B, Dallas
3 – Caleb George, senior INF, Heppner / Ione
*3 – Wyatt Moist, senior 3B, Corbett
*3 -- Conner Clift, senior 1B, Junction City
* Indicates a player who meets the threshold, but whose stats were not updated since last week
It’s a blur
Throwing hard in high school is the easiest way to get outs.
Here, we recognize those Oregon hurlers who have hit 87 mph or higher on the bump.
Chase Austin, junior LHP, Beaverton
Harrison Buckingham, junior RHP, South Salem
Michael Buschelman, senior RHP, North Eugene
Arlo Copony, senior RHP, Cleveland
Jacob Fritz, senior RHP, Crescent Valley / Kings Valley Christian
Evan Guadalupe, sophomore RHP, Summit
Andre Guthrie, junior RHP, Summit
Zack Hankins, senior LHP, Taft
Colin Harrington, senior RHP, Pendleton / Nixyaawii
Slade Hudson, senior RHP, Cascade
Cason Jacobs, junior RHP, Crescent Valley / Kings Valley Christian
Nate Kagen, senior RHP. Grant
Cade King, junior RHP, Clackamas
Will Klein, junior RHP, Westview
Malachi O'Brien, senior RHP, Westview
Blake Patereau, sophomore RHP. Cascade Christian
Jayce Phillipe, junior RHP, North Eugene
Parker Russell, sophomore RHP, Caldera
Grady Saunders, senior RHP, Thurston
Tyson Smith, senior RHP, Country Christian / North Clackamas Christian
Zeke Thomas, sophomore RHP, Willamette
Jinki Tomita, senior RHP, Grant
August Ware, senior LHP, Glencoe
Graeme Warner-McGee, senior RHP, Lincoln
Jaxom Wetzler, junior LHP, Clackamas
Jack Wright, senior LHP, Burns / Crane
Speed merchants
In this space, we recognize Oregon baseball players who have stolen 18 or more bases this season.
25 – Jonah Jayne, junior C/SS, Union / Cove
23 – Sawyer Nelson, senior SS, South Salem
20 – Jeremiah Izzo, junior UTIL, Illinois Valley
19 – Cole Walters, sophomore SS, Oakridge
Get a whiff of this!
Missing bats is an art.
This list recognizes those pitchers who have fanned 45 or more batters this season.
84 – Tyson Smith, senior RHP, County Christian / North Clackamas Christian
75 – Zack Hankins, senior LHP, Taft
63 – Carter Griggs, senior RHP, Umatilla
61 – Brandon Yee, junior LHP, Valley Catholic
57 – Gunner Bustos, sophomore RHP, The Dalles / Dufur
54 – Jaxon Pelham, junior LHP, Creswell
51 – Braden Marthaller, junior RHP, Toledo
50 – PJ Safford, senior RHP, Klamath Union
50 – Chase Austin, junior LHP, Beaverton
50 – Kooper Grover, sophomore RHP, Joseph / Enterprise / Wallowa
49 – Logan Law, junior RHP, Hidden Valley
48 – Teagan Sprague, junior RHP, Umpqua Valley Christian
47 – Jesse Sexton, junior RHP, Monroe / Alsea
46 – Quentin Jackson, senior RHP, Rainier
46 – Landen Pratt, sophomore LHP, Hood River Valley
Wait! What?
In this space, we recognize hitters who have put up outrageous stat lines in a single game.
Cooper Cemore, junior SS, Riverside (Boardman) – 3-for-3 with a double and grand slam, four runs scored and six RBIs in 18-3 win over Umatilla on March 31
Sawyer Dray, junior C, The Dalles / Dufur – 5-for-6 with two triples, a double and two driven in in a 10-9, 10-inning loss to Mazama on April 18
Braden Marthaller, junior OF, Toledo – 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, and five RBIs in 13-4 win over Waldport on March 30
Braden Marthaller, junior OF, Toledo – 5-for-5 with a double and seven RBIs in 15-4 win over Reedsport on April 17
Connor Mason, junior SS, Toledo – 4-for-5 with a double, home run and seven RBIs in 10-0 shutout of Eddyville Charter / Siletz Valley on March 31
Bryce Morris, junior SS, Umatilla – 4-for-6 with two doubles and five RBIs in 18-14 extra-inning win over Sherman on March 17
Sawyer Nelson, senior SS, South Salem – 3-for-4 with two HRs and a steal in a 10-0 blanking of Mountain View on April 4
Grady Saunders, senior UTIL, Thurston – 2-for-4 with a three-run dinger, grand slam and seven RBIs in 9-3 win over Churchill in G1 of a double dip on April 11 (Saunders drove in five more runs in G2!)
Teagan Scott, senior C, South Salem – two HRs in opening day 20-0 win over Ida B. Wells on March 17
Jace Willett, senior 1B, Century – 3-for-4 with three doubles, three runs scored and four RBIs on March 25 in 12-4 win over Putnam
No-no!
Below, we recognize pitchers who have thrown seven-inning no-hitters this year.
Zack Hankins, senior LHP, Taft – 16Ks in 1-0 win over Creswell on April 4
Zack Hankins, senior LHP, Taft – 13Ks in 4-2 win over Warrenton on April 11
Braden Marthaller, junior RHP, Toledo – 17 Ks in 10-0 shutout of Eddyville Charter / Siletz Valley on March 31
Riley Taylor, junior RHP, Toledo – won 10-0 over Bandon on April 3
.500 or better batting average
Below, we recognize those hitters who, with a minimum of 30 plate appearances, are hitting .500 or better on the season.
.619 – Caleb George, sophomore INF, Heppner / Ione (42 at bats)
.585 – Miles Lute, senior SS, Crosshill Christian (41 at bats)
.583 -- Travis Conklin, junior 1B/DH, Stayton (31 at bats)
.571 -- Grayson English, sophomore 1B, Pendleton / Nixyaawii (39 plate appearances)
.564 – Teagan Scott, senior C, South Salem (34 at bats)
.553 – Arlo Copony, senior DH, Cleveland (47 at bats)
.553 – Quentin Jackson, senior SS, Rainier (38 at bats)
.553 – Rowdy Williams, sophomore C, Oakridge (38 at bats)
.550 – David Garcia, senior CF, Umatilla (32 plate appearances)
.545 – Braden Marthaller, junior OF, Toledo (44 at bats)
.545 -- Lucca Petrone, senior OF/1B, Phoenix (33 at bats)
.522 -- Colin Harrington, senior OF, Pendleton / Nixyaawii (44 at bats)
.513 – Ben Weiss, junior INF, Corvallis (39 at bats)
.500 -- Kyle Kristensen, senior OF, Clackamas (37 plate appearances)
18 or more RBIs
Below we recognize those Oregon hitters with 18 or more runs driven in so far this season.
27 – Braden Marthaller, junior OF, Toledo
27 – Miles Lute, senior SS, Crosshill Christian
23 – Bryce Morris, junior SS, Umatilla
23 – Caleb George, senior INF, Heppner / Ione
23 – Nathan Driskell, junior INF, Pendleton / Nixyaawii
22 – Teagan Scott, senior C, South Salem
22 – Callen Ward, sophomore C, Taft
21 – Braxton Mattinen, junior C, Rainier
21 – Asher Strand, senior 1B, Monroe / Alsea
21 – Sawyer Nelson, senior SS, South Salem
20 – Ty Hattenhauer, senior INF, Caldera
19 – Quentin Romney, junior 3B, Bend
19 – Connor Mason, junior SS, Toledo
19 – Ben Weiss, junior INF, Corvallis
18 – Nate Gibson, sophomore C, Crosspoint Christian
18 – Tayden Isaacson, sophomore 3B, Crosshill Christian
18 – Kye Leenders, junior 1B, Tualatin
18 – Owen Hagerman, senior SS, Tualatin
18 – Roy Bannister, junior INF, Corvallis
ERA of 0.50
Below we recognize pitchers who have an earned run average of 0.50 or better with 15 or more innings pitched this season.
0.00 – Zack Hankins, senior LHP, Taft (32 innings pitched)
0.00 – Logan Law, junior RHP, Hidden Valley (22 innings pitched)
0.00 – Ben Weiss, junior RHP, Corvallis (20.2 innings pitched)
Catcher pick offs
In this space, we list those catchers who have, at least 7 times this year, cut down would-be base stealers at second or third, or back picked a runner at any of the infield bases.
11 – Johan Phillips, sophomore, Crosshill Christian
10 – Matt Wilson, freshman, Heppner / Ione
9 – Teagan Scott, senior, South Salem
9 – Riley Tyler, junior, Toledo
8 – Ryland Thiessen, junior, Stayton
8 – Nolan Clark, senior, Caldera
*8 – Dane Carpenter, sophomore, Estacada
7 – Rowdy Williams, sophomore, Oakridge
* Indicates a player who meets the threshold, but whose stats were not updated since last week
Outfield assists
In this space, we list those outfielders who have thrown out runners at least three times this year trying to take an extra base.
3 – Jasper Spoon, junior, Oakridge
*3 – Miles Boehm, sophomore, Summit
* Indicates a player who meets the threshold, but whose stats were not updated since last week
College-Bound!
In this space, we list 83 high school players who have made a commitment to attend a college or university of their choice and play baseball. Twenty-one (21) of the commitments are the NCAA Division I universities.
Jackson Ashley, senior LHP, Oregon City -- Gonzaga University
Chase Austin, junior OF, Beaverton – Oregon State University
Elliott Bakke, senior RHP, Lincoln – Lassen College
Pi Barker, senior 3B/OF, Westview – Whitman College
Nathan Bassett, senior C/RHP, Grants Pass – Ohlone College
Cooper Berta, senior OF/RHP, Lakeridge – Linfield University
Kellen Bowman, junior RHP, South Salem – University of Portland
Luke Brady, junior SS, Clackamas – University of Portland
Miles Brown, senior OF, Grant – Lane CC
Harrison Buckingham, junior RHP, South Salem – Oregon State University
Michael Buschelman, senior RHP, North Eugene - Bushnell University
Judah Campos, senior RHP/UTIL, Newberg – Lane CC
Conner Clift, senior 1B/LHP, Junction City – College of the Siskiyous
Cole Cooper, senior INF, Bend - Linfield University
Kaden Cooper, senior C/OF, Bend - Cuesta College
Arlo Coppony, senior RHP, Cleveland – Lower Columbia CC
Kyler Dickerson, senior LHP, Molalla -- Blue Mountain CC
Ben Foglio, junior LHP, Clackamas – University of Washington
Nolan Foglio, senior C, Clackamas – Lower Columbia CC
Ben Fong, senior LHP, Tualatin – Chemeketa CC
Howie Galambos, senior RHP/INF, Oregon City -- Clackamas CC
JT Girod, junior INF, Central – University of Oregon
Jauquin Goodlow, senior OF, Grant – Mt. Hood CC
Cal Green, senior SS/RHP, Sandy – Mt. Hood CC
Andrew Ha, senior OF/RHP, Lakeridge – Bushnell University
Zack Hankins, senior LHP, Taft – University of Oregon
Colin Harrington, senior RHP/OF, Pendleton / Nixyaawii – Eastern Oregon University
Chase Hartley, senior OF, Churchill - Feather River CC
Landon Hartman, senior LHP, Oregon City -- Umpqua CC
Luke Hatton, senior OF/RHP, Sandy – Mt. Hood CC
Ryan Hemsley, senior SS/RHP, West Linn – University of Portland
Trenton Hertzog, senior C, Tualatin – University of Oregon
Cam Hyder, senior LHP/1B, McMinnville – Lower Columbia CC
Trevor Jacobs, senior INF, Hood River Valley – Oregon Institute of Technology
Brock Johnson, senior SS/RHP, Thurston – Bushnell University
Nate Kagen, senior OF, Grant – Swarthmore College
Blake Kansky, senior RHP, South Salem – College of Marin
Chase Kelly, junior LHP, Jesuit – University of Washington
Jack Kiesel, senior C, Nelson – San Diego Mesa College
Cade King, junior RHP, Clackamas – University of Washington
Caden Klouda, senior RHP/OF, West Linn – Seattle University
Colby Kosderka, senior RHP, Wilsonville – Lewis & Clark College
Connor Lemmon, senior RHP, Oregon City -- Clackamas CC
Jacob Lewis, senior RHP, South Medford – Warner Pacific University
Ryder Listy, senior C/1B, Jesuit – Feather River CC
Jace Litten, senior INF/RHP, Churchill - Bushnell University
Alexander Lopez, senior LHP, Sherwood – Everett CC
Kallen Mattila, senior RHP, Scappoose – Chemeketa CC
Kingston McAdam, senior C, Hood River Valley - Eastern Oregon University
Jake McClaughry, senior OF/RHP, Baker/Powder Valley – Linfield University
Tug McQuinn, senior SS/RHP, Pendleton / Nixyaawii – Mt. Hood CC
Joe Mendazona, junior C, Central – Texas Christian University
Rylan Metz, senior OF/RHP, Lakeridge – Linfield University
Blake Mikel, senior 1B/RHP, Churchill – Walla Walla CC
Sawyer Nelson, senior SS, South Salem – Loyola Marymount University
Vance Nelson, senior C/OF, Pendleton /Nixyaawii – Umpqua CC
Griffin Nichols, senior SS/2B, Jesuit – Pomona-Pitzer
Maddux Nichols, senior C, Westview – Allan Hancock College
Malachi O'Brien, senior RHP, Westview – Lane CC
Trever Olsen, senior INF, Scappoose – Mt. Hood CC
Erick Pezqueda, senior INF/RHP, Grants Pass – Clackamas CC
Parker Raubuch, senior RHP, Sunset – Mt. Hood CC
Kayden Roberts, senior INF, Creswell – College of the Siskiyous
Brody Rogers, senior RHP/1B, Westview – Allan Hancock College
Jake Rolling, senior SS, Jesuit -- Gonzaga University
PJ Safford, senior RHP/C, Klamath Union – Oregon Institute of Technology
Grady Saunders, senior RHP/Utility, Thurston – Oregon State University
Ty Sconfienza, senior INF, Reynolds – Mt. Hood CC
Teagan Scott, senior C, South Salem – Oregon State University
Parker Sellner, senior OF/RHP, Newberg – Linfield University
Dillon Shultz, senior INF, Molalla – Umpqua CC
Marcio Silva, senior RHP, Bend - Cuesta College
Calen Simonelic, senior OF, Tualatin -- Bushnell University
Nick Sousa, senior RHP, Clackamas – Mt. Hood CC
Andrew Street, senior RHP/INF, Corvallis -- Corban University
Luke Sullivan, senior INF/RHP, Sunset – East Texas Baptist University
Caleb Tiede, senior INF, Clackamas – Mt. Hood CC
Jinki Tomita, senior RHP, Grant – Feather River CC
Evan Valenzuela, senior INF, Grants Pass – College of the Siskiyous
August Ware, senior LHP, Glencoe – Oregon State University
Jaxon Wetzler, junior LHP, Clackamas – University of Oregon
Riley Whitwood, senior OF/1B, North Eugene - Lewis and Clark University
Grady Wilmot, junior SS, Lincoln – University of Portland
Jace Willett, senior RHP/INF, Century – Shoreline CC
To report a commitment, email John Tawa at johnt@osaa.org.
johnt@osaa.org
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