One more win and the Kennedy Trojans will make state history (Andre Panse)

No team in the history of Oregon baseball has had a season as dominant as the Trojans of Kennedy High School, a public school located in Mt. Angel.

With only the OSAA / OnPoint Community Credit Union 2A/1A state championship baseball game remaining on Saturday, Kennedy has scored 317 runs. Not only is that the most runs scored by a 2A/1A team this season, other than Blanchet Catholic, its opponent in the finals; it is more runs than ANY TEAM in ANY CLASSIFICATION has scored.

With only the OSAA / OnPoint Community Credit Union 2A/1A state championship baseball game remaining on Saturday, Kennedy has yielded just 35 runs. Not only is that the fewest runs given up by a 2A/1A team this season, it is fewer runs given up than ANY TEAM in ANY CLASSIFICATION across the state.

Scoring at a prolific pace. Preventing scoring at an historic rate. It’s no wonder the Trojans are 30-0 in 2023 and poised to make state history with one more win.

Since 1970, when the OSAA’s recordkeeping first noted the team won-loss record of its state champions, only four teams have completed a season undefeated: Corbett in 1983 (23-0), Grant Union  in 2005 (31-0), Knappa in 2015 (27-0) and Knappa again in 2018 (24-0). If Kennedy defeats Blanchet Catholic on Saturday, it will match Grant Union for the best single-season record in Oregon in more than 50 years. Perhaps ever.

Oregon’s all-time consecutive wins record also is in sight. The Trojans currently have won 37 games in a row, which ranks third all-time behind those great Knappa teams, which each won 42 in a row. Kennedy might have the record outright by now, but for a May, 2022 loss to Culver, which sandwiched eight and seven-game winning streaks.

 It’s all there for Kennedy with one more win. On Saturday, the Trojans get the chance to make history. As a team.

“They get along well,” said coach Kevin Moffatt. “No one cares who gets the credit. It's someone different every game.” 

2A/1A Championship Final

Saturday, 3:30 p.m., Volcanoes Stadium, Keizer

Kennedy Trojans (30-0) v. Blanchet Catholic Cavaliers (28-2)

OSAA playoff rank: Kennedy, No. 1; Blanchet, No. 3

Pre-season coaches poll rank: Kennedy No. 1; Blanchet No. 5

Final coaches poll rank: Kennedy, No. 1; Blanchet No. 2

2022 records: Kennedy 27-3 (state champion); Blanchet 19-6 (lost in 3A semis)

Head to head in 2023: Did not play

Kennedy

Number of state championships: 2

Last state championship: 2022

Last appearance in a state final: 2022

Total number of appearances before 2023: 3

Current winning streak: 37 (over two seasons)

Path to the finals: d. OSAA No. 16 Country Christian / North Clackamas Christian 16-3; d. No. 8 Heppner / Ione 12-0; d. No. 4 St. Paul 7-0

Probable starting pitcher: Either senior LHP Ethan Kleinschmit (14-0; 0.61 ERA) or senior RHP Andrew Cuff (8-0; 0.83 ERA). Cuff was the winning pitcher in last year’s 11-1, six-inning defeat of Umpqua Valley Christian in the state championship game.

Top offensive players: Kleinschmit, Cuff, seniors Luke Beyer, Charlie Beyer and Brian Beyer. All five hit over .400 on the season. All but Luke Beyer, who scored 42 runs, drove in 30 or more.

First Team All-League performers: Kleinschmit (P), Charlie Beyer (C), Cuff and Luke Beyer (INF), seniors Brett Boen and Owen Bruner (OF), Brian Beyer (DH), junior Brody Kleinschmit (UTIL).

Blanchet Catholic

Number of state championships: 0

Last state championship: never

Last appearance in a state final: never

Total number of appearances before 2023: none

Current winning streak: 5

Path to the finals: d. No. 14 Grant Union / Prairie City 3-0; d. No. 6 Reedsport 21-1; d. No. 2 Umpqua Valley Christian 9-1

Probable starting pitcher: Either sophomore RHP Carson McNally (7-1; 1.11 ERA) or sophomore RHP Drew Bartels (10-0; 1.95 ERA).

Top offensive players: senior C Spencer Kowalski (.463; 30 RBIs); sophomore 3B Andrew Cuff (.428; 38 RBIs); Bartels (.435; 29 RBIs; 29 SBs); sophomore 2B Noah Hancock (.417; 25 SBs); McNally (.405; 31 RBIs).

First Team All-League performers: Kowalski (Voted co-Player of the Year), Bartels (voted Pitcher of the Year), McNally (P), Hancock and Cuff (INF) and junior Griffen Mucken (OF).

Game notes: Kennedy comes to Keizer with tons of big-game experience. The Trojans were junior dominated last year when they 10-runned UVC, 11-1, in a game played in a constant drizzle. Kennedy’s defense held in the wet conditions, while UVC’s did not. The Trojans return to Volcanoes Stadium with a veteran roster that features 12 seniors among their 18 players. They have big-game pitchers in Kleinschmit and Cuff who are competitors and make you earn your runs by being consistently in the strike zone. Offensively, every Kennedy hitter sports a batting average above .300. The lineup features well-rounded players and strong athletes who hit for power and have speed…Blanchet Catholic, in its first year in 2A/1A after making the 3A semifinals a year ago, is a very young team, with Kowalski, a Centralia College signee, its lone senior. The Cavaliers, who are in a state championship game for the first time in program history, are potent offensively, having scored 34 more runs than any other team in Oregon. The team is hitting .390 during the state playoffs while averaging 11 runs per game. Pitching also has been stellar in the postseason, with Blanchet hurlers yielding just one earned run (two runs total) while holding opponents to a .159 batting average.

3A Championship Final

Saturday, 7 p.m., PK Park, Eugene

Cascade Christian Challengers (26-4) v. Banks Braves (26-3)

OSAA playoff rank: Cascade Christian, No. 1; Banks, No. 2

Pre-season coaches poll rank: Cascade Christian No. 1; Banks, No. 2

Final coaches poll rank: Cascade Christian, No. 1; Banks, No. 2

2022 records: Cascade Christian 23-5 (lost in 3A quarterfinals as No 1 seed); Banks 22-3 (lost in 4A quarterfinals as No. 1 seed)

Head to head in 2023: Banks 11, Cascade Christian 4, March 30

Cascade Christian

Number of state championships: 1

Last state championship: 2012

Last appearance in a state final: 2014

Total number of appearances before 2023: 3

Current winning streak: 3

Path to the finals: d. No. 17 Siuslaw 13-0; d. No. 8 Sisters 9-2; d. No. 4 Brookings-Harbor 11-1 (6 innings)

Probable starting pitcher: senior RHP Owen Thompson (11-1; 0.92 ERA; 146 Ks over 76 innings).

Top offensive players: senior C Triston Wallace (.461; 19 extra base hits; 29 RBIs); junior OF Ashton Moody (.444; 12 extra base hits); Thompson (.395; 14 extra base hits); senior 2B Cole Shields (.443; 10 doubles; 27 RBIs).

First Team All-League performers: Thompson (Player of the Year), Wallace (C), Shields and senior Liam Benade (INF), Moody and junior Noah Letendre (OF).

Banks

Number of state championships: 1

Last state championship: 2019

Last appearance in a state final: 2019

Total number of appearances before 2023: 2

Current winning streak: 3

Path to the finals: d. No. 15 Taft 10-0; d. No. 10 La Pine 8-4; d. No. 3 South Umpqua 5-1

Probable starting pitcher: junior RHP Wyatt Hesselman (6-2; 1,44 ERA) or junior LHP Blake Jewett (3-0; 0.81 ERA) or senior RHP Christian Lyda (3-0; 2.14 ERA)

Top offensive players: senior 1B Logan Kind (.549; 43 runs; 30 RBIs); junior 3B Justin Walters (.400; 30 RBIs),unior C Ashton Crossen (.353; 32 RBIs) and Hesselman (.493; 34 RBIs)

First Team All-League performers: Kind, Hesselman, Walters, Crosson.

Game notes: Cascade Christian went 18-0 to win the Far West League for the second consecutive year. Cascade Christian is hitting .342 as a team with 60 doubles and 25 triples and averages more than nine runs per game. The Challengers’ team ERA is 1.67. Shields, the Challengers’ cleanup hitter, is questionable with a foot injury that has been nagging him all year. Head coach Kevin Shafer and assistant Andy Osborne were teammates on the Douglas team that went 27-1 and won the 3A state title in 1992. Cascade Christian is trying to win the “triple crown” – football, boys basketball and baseball titles all in the same year. Eight on the 14-man roster played football. Two, Wallace and freshman Deryk Farmer, played football and basketball. Wallace scored six points in the basketball championship game and had 46 yards of total offense, three tackles and a blocked kick in the football final…Banks won its only title in 2019, edging Henley, 3-1, in 4A, then lost to Philomath, 2-1, in the 4A quarterfinals last year as the No. 1 seed. In its first year n 3A, Banks has given up only 50 runs, fewer than anyone in the classification. The team has three losses overall, but only one to a 3A team. Head coach Joe Baumgartner is in his second stint coaching the Braves. He coached at Banks from 1986-1997, then moved to Forest Grove for a 12-year stint. He’s been back at Banks since 2017 and presided over the Braves’ only state title two years later.

4A Championship Final

Saturday, 7 p.m., Volcanoes Stadium, Keizer

Scappoose (26-2) v. Pendleton Buckaroos (22-8)

OSAA playoff rank: Scappoose, No. 1; Pendleton, No. 6

Pre-season coaches poll rank: Scappoose, not ranked; Pendleton, No. 3

Final coaches poll rank: Scappoose, No. 1; Pendleton, No. 3

2022 records: Scappoose 15-12 (lost in first round of 5A playoffs); Pendleton 16-11 (lost in 5A quarterfinals)

Head to head in 2023: Scappoose 5, Pendleton 3 on May 2

Scappoose

Number of state championships: 4

Last state championship: 2015

Last appearance in a state final: 2015

Total number of appearances before 2023: 6

Current winning streak: 21

Path to the finals: d. No. 16 Hidden Valley 10-3; d. No. 9 Crook County 8-1; d. No. 5 La Grande 6-4

Probable starting pitcher: Senior LHP Wyatt Anicker (6-0; 0.46 ERA)

Top offensive players: senior OFs Anicker and Trey Fuller, senior INF Chase Olsen, sophomore INF Joe Fagan, junior INF Grayson Grover, sophomore utility Quinton Olsen.

First Team All-League performers: Anicker (P), Fuller (OF), Chase Olsen, Fagan and Grover (INF), Quinton Olsen (UTIL)

Pendleton

Number of state championships: 0

Last state championship: None

Last appearance in a state final: 2019

Total number of appearances before 2023: 5

Current winning streak: 4

Path to the finals: d. No. 11 Newport 8-0; d. No. 3 Marist Catholic 13-4; d. No. 2 Gladstone 9-0

Probable starting pitcher: Undetermined. Senior RHP Jack Lieuallen (7-1; 2.00 ERA), senior RHP Payton Lambert (4-3; 3.30 ERA) and sophomore RHP Evan Lehnert (5-0; 2.89 ERA).

Top offensive players: SS Lambert (Santa Clara commit hitting .515 with 10 doubles, 11 triples, 4 HR, 36 RBIs and 52 runs scored); senior 3B Andrew Demianew (Linn-Benton commit hitting .440 with 12 doubles, 36 RBIs and 36 runs)

First Team All-League performers: Lambert (Player of the Year); seniors Demianew, Dylan Gomez and Keefer Breshears (INF), senior Chas Corbett (OF), senior Clayson Cooley (DH), senior Lieuallen (P)

Game notes: Scappoose went 12-0 to win the Cowapa League and comes to the state final having won 21 games in a row. Scappoose blanked 3A finalists Banks, 10-0, earlier in the year and its only losses on the season are to 5A Hood River Valley (5-4) and 6A Newberg (5-1). The team’s 18-player roster includes eight junior and seniors, seven sophomores and three freshmen. Anicker, one of the seniors, also is an All-State football player and state champion wrestler. The majority of the players on the roster play more than one sport…Pendleton is playing in its sixth state championship game. The Bucks lost in 1963, 1975, 1985, 1992 and 2019. The team has been without senior RHP Easton Corey, an Oregon State recruit, all year due to Tommy John surgery. “He has been our stability factor on the bench as a great teammate and Game Changer guru,” said head coach TJ Haguewood. The team has 11 seniors on its roster and sports a 3.69 team GPA, the 4A Academic State Champions.

5A Championship Final

Saturday, 3:30 p.m., PK Park, Eugene

Thurston Colts (27-3) v. West Albany Bulldogs (23-6)

OSAA playoff rank: Thurston, No. 2; West Albany, No. 4

Pre-season coaches poll rank: Thurston, No. 4; West Albany, No. 7

Final coaches poll rank: Thurston, No. 1; West Albany, No. 3

2022 records: Thurston 26-3 (lost in quarterfinals); West Albany 19-7 (lost in first round)

Head to head in 2023: Did not play

Thurston

Number of state championships: 1

Last state championship: 2009

Last appearance in a state final: 2012

Total number of appearances before 2023: 3

Current winning streak: 26

Path to the finals: d. No. 15 Hood River Valley 4-3; d. No. 7 Lebanon 4-0; d. No. 3 Wilsonville 14-8

Probable starting pitcher: Sophomore RHP Connor Molony (10-0; 1.04 ERA)

Top offensive players: senior SS Maddox Molony (.479; nine HRs); junior CF Adam Elliott (.474); freshman UTIL Grady Saunders (.463; 45 hits); junior 3B Eli Crist (.381; 38 RBIs); senior 2B Easton McDonald (.432); sophomore 1B Connor Molony (.461).

First Team All-League performers: Maddox Molonoy (Player of the Year); Connor Molony (Pitcher of the Year); Crist, McDonald, Saunders, Elliott and sophomore pitcher Collin Hernandez.

West Albany

Number of state championships: 0

Last state championship: None

Last appearance in a state final: 2004

Total number of appearances before 2023: 1

Current winning streak: 3

Path to the finals: d. No. 13 Bend 11-5; d. No. 5 Ridgeview 5-4; d. No. 9 Ashland 5-4

Probable starting pitcher: Sophomore RHP Drew Rice (5-3; 1.33 ERA)

Top offensive players: Senior SS Camden Johnson (.323); senior CF Evan Bliss (.411; team leader in hits, runs and RBIs); senior DH Marcus Allen (.407); junior 3B Aiden Metzker (.260 but showing extra base power in playoffs)

First Team All-League performers: Bliss (Player of the Year); Rice (P); Allen (DH)

Game notes: Thurston was seeded third last year but lost to Crescent Valley in the quarterfinals, in the midst of the Raiders’ improbable run to the 5A state title. This year’s Colts team started 1-3, including one-run 5A losses to Summit and Crescent Valley, but they haven’t lost since. They went 18-0 in the Midwestern League and have a win over 6A Westview and Sheldon. Maddox Molony is the team’s leader and four-year starter. The Oregon signee leads the state in home runs. The win over Sheldon was the season opener. It was played at PK Park, where Thurston also will end its season…West Albany is in its first championship game since 2004 despite not having its best pitcher, Allen (elbow surgery). “He was first expected not to be able to play at all this season, but he worked so hard in his rehab that he was able to come back as a DH halfway through the season,” said coach Marty Johnston. “He is the ultimate example of focusing on what's possible not probable.” The Bulldogs also have not played with senior OF Noah Sanders, who broke his collarbone two weeks before the season. “Even though he hasn't been able to play this season, he is one of our most important guys,” Johnston said. “He drives the energy in the dugout, which feeds our energy on the field. Not one time has he ever made it about him, his injury, or that he hasn't been able to be on the field. He is truly a team first guy and we would not be here without him.” Assistant coach Dan Gordon is in his 49th season coaching the sport. The Bulldogs have a penchant for the rally. They have trailed in very playoff game this season. Rice did not pitch at all as a freshman. “He has a great pitcher's presence on the mound,” Johnston said. “He has great command of his pitches and hits his spots.” 

6A Championship Final

Saturday, 12 noon, Volcanoes Stadium, Keizer

Jesuit Crusaders (26-5) v. West Linn Lions (25-6)

OSAA playoff rank: Jesuit, No. 2, West Linn, No. 1

Pre-season coaches poll rank: Jesuit, No. 1; West Linn, No. 2

Final coaches poll rank: Jesuit, No. 1; West Linn, No. 2

2022 records: Jesuit 25-4 (lost in second round); West Linn 25-7 (state champion)

Head to head in 2023: Jesuit 9, West Linn 6 on March 17

Jesuit

Number of state championships: 2

Last state championship: 2019

Last appearance in a state final: 2019

Total number of appearances before 2023: 3

Current winning streak: 10

Path to the finals: d. No. 31 Willamette 11-1 (6 innings); d. No. 15 Ida B. Wells 14-3 (5 innings); d. No. 7 Sprague 11-1 (6 innings); d. No. 6 North Medford 4-2

Probable starting pitcher: Senior RHP Noble Meyer (10-1, 128 SO in 63.0 IP, 0.33 ERA)

Top offensive players: senior 3B Levi Jones (.437; 8 HRs; 33 RBIs); senior SS Ryan Cooney (.405; 10 doubles); senior OF Ty Alleman (.426); senior C Charlie Sturm (.472; 24 RBIs); Meyer (.373; 5 HRs; 27 RBIs)

First Team All-League performers: Jones (Player of the Year); Meyer (Pitcher of the Year); Cooney (INF), Alleman (OF and P), Sturm (C), Brock Leitgeb (UTIL)

West Linn

Number of state championships: 3

Last state championship: 2022

Last appearance in a state final: 2022

Total number of appearances before 2023: 7

Current winning streak: 9

Path to the finals: d. No. 32 Century 10-0; d. No. 17 Sheldon 2-0; d. No. 25 McNary 4-1; d. No. 4 Lake Oswego 6-4

Probable starting pitcher: Undetermined. Tossup between junior RHP Gabe Howard and senior LHP Drake Gabel, who have been lights out this year; or senior RHP Drew Talavs, an Oregon State recruit who was the winning pitcher in last year’s 6A championship game.

Top offensive players: junior C Ryan VandenBrink (7 HRs); senior OF Drake Gabel (.552 OBP); senior 1B Ryan Holmes (.373; 4 HRs); sophomore OF Danny Wideman (.447); sophomore OF Baron Naone (.338; 3 HRs)

First Team All-League performers: VandenBrink (Player of the Year), Gabel (OF; co-Pitcher of the Year); Howard (P); Holmes, Naomi, Wideman (UTIL); senior 2B Tyson Smith

Game notes: Jesuit has 15 seniors on its roster. Five have signed to play Division I baseball next year. They might not all get there. Meyer is one of the best players in the country. He has a fastball that touches triple digits and is projected to go early in the first round of the July MLB draft. The only sophomore on the roster, OF Kainoa Santiago, also is a Division I commit. Through 31 games. the Crusaders have walked 134 times while striking out just 117 times. They are averaging 10 runs scored through four playoff games while yielding just under two…West Linn is making its fourth appearance in the state final since head coach Joe Monahan took over in 2014. The Lions defeated Canby last year, 14-0, to capture its first state title since 1982. Talavs, Holmes, Gabel and Howard all starred in that game. West Linn had a chance to win state in 2015, but sophomore SS Tim Tawa threw away Justin Herbert’s grounder in the bottom of the seventh, allowing Sheldon to plate the winning run. Six players on West Linn’s roster played for the 6A champion Lions football team in the fall. Four played on the basketball team that finished runner up in 6A. Jake Holmes has been a varsity performer on all three teams for three years.