Lebanon has moved into the 5A baseball and softball playoffs this week, hosting first-round games on Tuesday, May 23, against opponents that were not yet named as Lebanon Local went to press.
“If they both win in the first round, we’ll do it again Friday,” Athletic Director Kraig Hoene said.
The Warrior and East Linn Christian track teams were in districts at press time for the newspaper, but the Lebanon girls and East Linn’s boys, in particular, looked primed to make a mark at the state championships, which will be this weekend.
Baseball
The Warriors finished their Mid-Willamette Conference season 15-3, 20-6 overall, with two of those losses coming against West Albany (17-1, 20-6), which took the league title ahead of Lebanon.
“We didn’t get the league title, but the team that got it had a great series against us,” Hoene said.
The Warriors, ranked seventh in the 5A as of last week after 10 straight league wins, finished their regular season Thursday, May 18, with a 3-2 win at Gladstone, ranked second in the 4A division, in an endowment game that had been postponed from earlier in the year.
Hoene said that since RPI numbers were still in flux late last week, it was hard to predict who Lebanon’s opponent would be in the first round.
Meanwhile, across town, East Linn Christian finished its season with a 14-13 win over Monroe to end a six-game losing streak that left the Eagles 3-15 in league, 3-15 overall.
Softball
Lebanon was ranked third in the 5A as the MWC season ended, finishing 11-4, 18-5 overall, behind No. 1 Dallas. The Warriors faced the best throughout the season – the MWC had five teams ranked in the top 13 in the state at the end of the regular season, with Dallas, Lebanon, Silverton and Corvallis in the top eight.
“Softball’s in great shape,” Hoene said. He added that the playoff picture would sharpen up quickly as some other leagues finished their seasons last week.
It’s been a team effort, though going into the final week of the season, junior Lexi Mulligan was among the state’s leader’s with 19 stolen bases and 29 RBIs.
Golf
Sophomore Ryland Carroll shot 76-76-152 to win the district title May 8-9 at Trysting Tree in Corvallis.
State wound up being a little tougher, as Carroll shot an uncharacteristic 88 on May 15 at Emerald Valley in Creswell before recovering with a 78 to finish tied for 18th with a 166.
“He didn’t have a great Day 1 at state,” Hoene said. “Day 2 was nice and he played a lot better. He’s a sophomore and he’s still learning. He’s a good kid who has a passion for the sport.”
Will Koch of La Salle and Michael Flaherty of Wilson were state co-champions, tying at 156.
Also for the Warriors, senior A’Kalie Berry qualified for state from the girls side and finished 45th, shooting 121-119-230.
Tennis
No Warriors qualified for state at the MWC tennis championships held May 12 at Timberhill Tennis Club in Corvallis.
Lebanon Track
Although there had not been any head-turning results from the Lebanon boys as they headed into the MVC championships May 18 and 20, there was room to hope on the boys side as senior Jackson Parrish was ranked first in the conference in the triple jump (42-9½) by a couple of inches, and got things rolling on the first day of districts by qualifying for state in the long jump ((21-6½).
5A Division state is May 26-27.
Junior Jacob Pearson popped a 1½-foot PR in the pole vault May 10 to go 12-0, good for fourth in the league standings.
The Warriors have a pair of sophomores moving up the rankings in the javelin; Carlos Villafana-Garcia has thrown 158-2, good for fourth in the district and Gabe Allise-Jester (150-9) was fifth in MWC.
Things were looking promising on the girls side as well, with a few happy surprises as the Warriors entered the MWC meet. Top two finishers at district are guaranteed a trip to state.
In the 200, junior Alyse Fountain was second in the MWC (26.44), and in the 400 freshman Addilynne Pickles was also second (1:01.54).
Picles qualified for state in the long jump on May 18 (16-2).
Lebanon’s 4×100 relay team of Taylor Roles, Pickles, Hayden Knutson and Fountain had the second-fastest time (50.58) going into districts.
After district prelims, senior Sadie Voight was third – by a tenth of a second – in the 300 hurdles (49.44).
Sophomores Taryn Cornell (37-5½) and twin sister Teagen (36-4) are two-three in the shot.
One surprise has been junior Lilli Kranz, an exchange student from Germany, who turned out to be the best high jumper in the conference, at least prior to districts, clearing 4-11.
“We had no idea,” Hoene said. “The coaches were, ‘Whoa, she can jump!’”
Going into districts, Knutson was looming in fourth place in the triple (32-8½), only inches away from second.
East Linn Track
The Eagles, perenially a power in 2A Division track and field events, are back this year with some strong performers on both the boys and girls sides as they went into their District 2 Championships May 19-20, hosted by Blanchet in Salem. State is May 25-26 for the smaller schools.
For East Linn’s boys, senior Aidan Morgan was second in the 100 (11.46) and 200 (23.84) second in both.
His big event, though, has been the 110 hurdles (15.47), in which he was ranked first – by a second – in the state going into the district meet,
The boys 4×100 relay team of Josh Cowart, Elliot Nofziger, Kaleo Wellman, Morgan were also ranked first in the state with a best time of 45.13.
Wellman was first in the district long jump rankings by two feet (21-8) and second in state, with Nofziger third in the district at 19-3. Wellman also had the top district mark in the triple jump (42-7) by three feet, which put him third in state rankings.
For the girls, freshman Lexy Kauffman was ranked second in the district in the 200 (27.81) and junior Ruby Lane was third in the long jump with a best of 15-4, four inches out of second.
No surprise here: sophomore Daisy Lalonde, who won the state cross-country title last fall, had the top time in the state in the 1500 (4:57) and the 3000 (by 45 seconds) with a time of 10:13.36.
She was third in the district and fourth in state in the 800 as well (2:28.77).
Lalonde also had the second-best pole vault mark in the district at 7-6.