Lebanon’s run through the 5A baseball playoffs ended in a crushing defeat to league foe Crescent Valley in the finals on June 4 at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.
Ryan Rivers gave up the loss for the Warriors, allowing four hits and three runs in six innings on the mound. Bryant Starr and Tyler Walker finished things off for the Warriors in the seventh inning.
Noah Dewey went the distance until the final two batters for Crescent Valley, recording nine strikeouts – the same as Rivers.
Crescent Valley, which finished fourth in Mid-Willamette Conference, did not beat Lebanon during the regular season, in which the Warriors – who had four seniors and 13 juniors on their roster, cruised to a 15-1 league record and a No. 1 ranking in the state. Their starting lineup at state included one senior, Henry Pointer.
Lebanon had “a couple of mishaps” that allowed Crescent Valley some early runs in the game, but the difference was Dewey, whose slider was working “very well” in the championship game and kept the Warriors’ hitters from finding their groove at the plate, Athletic Director Kraig Hoene said.
“Dewey pitched very well. He’s a good one. When he gets his slider working like he had it, he’s one of the better arms in our league. We just couldn’t get anything going. It happens in baseball, especially in the one-and-out playoff format.”
Lebanon beat North Eugene 11-7, Pendleton 4-3 and Willamette 3-2, before matching up with the 11th-seeded Raiders.
Softball Playoffs
The Lebanon softball team, seeded third going into the playoffs, also made a deep run through the 5A playoffs, finishing with a 1-0 semifinal loss at No. 2 Wilsonville, which went on to lose 2-0 to Pendleton in the final.
“We ran into a girl that’s already signed with Michigan,” Hoene said.
Lebanon, which finished the regular season 14-2 to tie with Dallas for the league championship after beating the Dragons at home in their final MWC fame, went on to beat Ashland and Ridgeview, both in five-inning 10-0 wins, in the first two rounds before coming up short against the Wildcats.
State Track and Field
Junior Jackson Parrish was Lebanon’s top finisher at the 5A state track championships May 20-21 at Hayward Field in Eugene, finishing third in the triple jump (43-3¼) and fourth in the long jump (20-11¾).
Senior Caleb Christner was fifth in the 200, setting a PR of 22.46, and sixth in the 400 (51.36), the only other boy to medal for the Warriors.
Senior RJ Kennedy was 13th in the 800 (2:05.30) and senior Brayden Currey was 12th in the javelin (143-07).
On the girls side, freshman Teagen Cornell was seventh in the shot (33-2¾) and her twin sister Taryn was ninth (32-5½).
Warriors sign to compete at next level
Trinity Holden signs to continue her softball career with Portland State during a ceremony on the Warriors’ softball diamond. Holden, a four-year letter winner at Lebanon, and a multi-All-League and All-State honoree, was described by PSU Coach Meadow MxWhorter as “extremely athletic, powerful at the plate” and “a natural leader who will make an immediate impact in our program.”
Also signing was Elijah O’Brien, who will compete at Clackamas Community College in track and field. O’Brien was one of the Warriors’ top four sprinters and jumpers last season. Earlier this year, 6-2, 220-pound All-State linebacker Waylon Wolfe signed to play football at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., and Caleb Christner, a four-year varsity letterman with the Warriors, signed to play soccer at Park University in Gilbert, Ariz. Christner scored nine goals in his senior season at Lebanon.