WEST LINN – After winning three playoff games by a combined 32 runs, top-seeded West Linn had to dig a little deeper in a 6A softball semifinal Tuesday against No. 5 Mountainside.
And the host Lions showed that they can come through in pressure situations with a gritty 3-0 win that puts them in the state championship game for the first time in school history.
Senior Emily Sakys had a double, triple and RBI and scored two runs, junior Kylie Lambert smacked an RBI single and freshman Emily Rucker and juniors Meadow Sanborn and Avery Wolf combined on a three-hitter with eight strikeouts as West Linn (27-2) ran its winning streak to 19.
The margin for error was slimmer than usual, but the Lions embraced the tension.
“My dad always tells me, 'Nerves are the same feeling as excitement,'” Sakys said. “We use it and build off each other. We just know that we know how to play this game, and we keep climbing off each other's backs.”
West Linn – which lost in the quarterfinals the last two years – wasn't about to waste its chance at history, making a pointed effort to keep their heads under pressure.
“Every single one of us prepared for this moment,” senior Mckayla Castro said. “We knew that we just had to slow the game down and not make it bigger than we needed to. That's one thing that really helped us today.”
The Lions will play for the title against No. 2 Sherwood (27-3), the reigning champion, on Saturday at the University of Oregon's Jane Sanders Stadium.
“For three years, we've wanted to play on the Jane,” Sakys said. “I've had camps there, and it's a surreal atmosphere. We're just so excited to finally be there.”
The Bowmen are the only Oregon team to defeat West Linn this season, winning 5-4 at Sherwood on April 10. The Lions haven't lost since that game.
In Tuesday's game, West Linn took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Sakys doubled and scored on a throwing error on Lambert's ensuing sacrifice bunt.
The Lions scored twice with two outs in the fifth inning to make it 3-0. Piper Ruthrauff singled and Sakys followed by ripping the ball down the left-field line for an RBI triple. Lambert knocked a single up the middle to score Sakys.
Mountainside threatened to get back in the game in the top of the sixth. The Mavericks put the first two runners on base and moved them to second and third with one out, but Wolf replaced Sanborn in the circle and fanned senior Olivia Patterson and junior Jojo Appling to quell the threat.
“Being put in that situation made me honestly feel confidence in myself, and my coaches, knowing I can go out there and shut them all down,” Wolf said. “And obviously I did.”
Sakys said Wolf's strikeouts were “huge.”
“I'm just so proud of her,” Sakys said. “No matter what, when she's dialed in, no one can hit her.”
The Mavericks put the first two runners on base in the seventh inning but West Linn ended the game with a triple play. Sakys, the shortstop, caught a line drive off the bat of senior Avery Gaoiran, and the Lions retired the two runners before they could retreat safely to their bases.
West Linn finished with nine hits, getting two each from Sakys, Wolf and Ruthrauff.
Mountainside (25-5), playing in the semifinals for the first time, had its 16-game winning streak snapped. The Mavericks finished the season with a school record in wins.
Tuesday's other semifinal games:
6A
No. 2 Sherwood 12, No. 6 Glencoe 2 (five innings): The Bowmen pounded 15 hits to rout their Pacific Conference rival and return to the final. They scored five runs in the first inning to seize control. Jordyn Henderson (3 for 3, double, two RBIs), Presley Sarono-Ramos (2 for 3, home run, three RBIs), Parker Ayers (2 for 3, double, three RBIs) and Hollie Maughan (2 for 3, two RBIs) led the way. Sarono-Ramos earned the win in the circle, allowing five hits.
5A
No. 1 Caldera 7, No. 5 Crater 5: Trailing 5-1 in the middle of the second inning, Caldera (28-1) scored twice in each of the next three innings to pull ahead 7-5. Grace Wilson's two-run triple in the fourth inning was the go-ahead blow. Wilson went 2 for 3 with three RBIs and Elie Hall, Brooke Chapin and Avery Keldsen drove in single runs. Caldera will play in its first final.
No. 3 Wilsonville 1, No. 7 Canby 0 (12 innings): With one out in the bottom of the 12th, Morgan Christiansen doubled to center field to drive in Emmalyn Turco with the winning run in the battle of Northwest Oregon League powers. Addi Smith pitched a five-hitter with 18 strikeouts and two walks to win the pitching duel over Canby's Allison Hayzlett, who threw a four-hitter with nine strikeouts and one walk.
4A
No. 1 Scappoose 5, No. 4 Astoria 3 (eight innings): Kayla Brainerd belted a line-drive, two-run homer to center field with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Indians the win over their Cowapa League rival. Scappoose forced extra innings when Emily Greiner hit an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Greiner also had a solo homer. Saige Casey and Elly Casey each pitched four innings for Scappoose, allowing nine hits and fanning 10. Astoria's Kilee Svensen went 2 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs. Taryen Wray held the Indians to five hits and struck out nine.
No. 2 St. Helens 3, No. 11 Gladstone 0: Eme Curaming tossed a three-hitter with seven strikeouts and no walks to propel the Lions past the Gladiators. Ellie Schaffer hit an RBI single in the second inning and Bristol Beehler and Halli Heys drew bases-loaded walks in the sixth inning to account for St. Helens' runs. Gladstone's Ashlynne Franssen allowed four hits, struck out 13 and walked seven.
3A
No. 1 Vale 7, No. 4 Dayton 1: Vale improved to 29-0 behind freshman pitcher Sophia Navarrete, who threw a three-hitter with 15 strikeouts and two walks and had a double and two RBIs. Braelyn Keller and Teagan Stokes also drove in two runs apiece for the Vikings, who had 10 hits.
No. 2 South Umpqua 5, No. 3 Yamhill-Carlton 0: Senior Jasmine Morales allowed one hit, struck out 17 and walked two as the Lancers blanked the Tigers. Regan Ireland started the scoring with a two-run homer in the first inning. Danika Richardson had a double, triple and RBI and scored twice and Morales had a double and an RBI for South Umpqua, which had seven hits.
2A/1A
No. 4 Heppner/Ione 12, No. 8 Clatskanie 8: The Mustangs took a 6-1 lead after two innings and held off the Tigers, who rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh inning but fell short. Isabel Payne went 2 for 5 with a double and three RBIs and Sarah Estes and Maya Payne each had two hits and two RBIs for Heppner/Ione. Both teams finished with 13 hits.
No. 3 Regis 9, No. 2 Weston-McEwen 1: The Rams rode the pitching of Addie Bishop, who allowed five hits, struck out nine and walked four. Hadley Foster (2 for 3, home run, three RBIs), Olivia Adams (2 for 5, RBI), Peyton Welch (2 for 3) and Azzilin Smith (2 for 5, RBI) led the Regis' 12-hit attack, which benefited from eight walks.
jerryu@osaa.org
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