Underdog Oregon City upends Thurston for state title

KEIZER, Ore. -- Nobody thought the Oregon City High School baseball team would make the playoffs this season.

On Saturday, the Pioneers rode their underdog status all the way to the Class 6A state championship with a 7-5 win against Thurston at Volcanoes Stadium. It was the first baseball state title in Oregon City school history.

The Pioneers (20-11) finished third in the Three Rivers League and earned the No. 6 seed to the state playoffs. The Pioneers were the underdog in every postseason game.

"That's what we wanted so we were under the radar the whole time so no one knew what we were about," said Oregon City's Jon Reece.

Just about everyone -- excluding the Pioneers -- had them Oregon City out of the postseason, said senior Marc Morris.

"Every game we had in the playoffs, we were predicted to lose, but I guess we proved them wrong," he said. "It feels good, too. I can't lie ... It feels amazing. We're all smiles. Words don't even describe it."

The game was tied 3-3 in the fifth inning before the Pioneers took control. Morris hit an RBI single to allow Reece to score the go-ahead run, which turned the tide of the game.

"I just had confidence in the team," Morris said. "I just waited for the curve ball because he was throwing me a lot of them and I finally just relaxed and just waited on it and got it done. I knew Jon would be able to score from second because he's a fast kid."

Jake Phillips later added an RBI single to left field before Jacob Tipton crushed a two-RBI double to give the Pioneers a commanding four-run lead. Thurston, with its stellar 26-4 record entering the game, rebounded with a pair of runs in the sixth, including one coming off a wild pitch by Oregon City's Rilyn Lewchuk. Thurston was never able to mount any serious offense the rest of the way as the Pioneers earned the win.

"It's awesome," Lewchuk said. "We believed it from the beginning. We worked hard and gave it our best and good things happened."

Thurston coach Phil Dube gave credit to the Pioneers.

"My hat's off to their pitcher," he said. "That kid is a competitor for them. He did a heck of a job throughout the playoffs for them. I mean, what a story for Oregon City. To come in to the playoffs with the record they did and to knock off some pretty good teams, but I'm proud of my kids. They got here and they battled and they got a lot of great lessons that they're going to be able to walk away from the season with."

Thurston designated hitter Gauge Hallett was disappointed in the loss because coming into the season, the team's goal was to win the title. Hallett and the Colts, however, took the loss in stride.

"We set our standards high and a loss is always disappointing, but it was fun," he said. "I thought our players pretty good overall. A couple of pop flys here and there kind of choked us a little bit, but overall, I'm proud of my teammates and I'm proud we got here."

Lewchuk went seven innings on the mound for the Pioneers and gave up seven hits and five runs. He struck out three and walked one. Thurston pitcher Kyle Watson went 4 2/3 innings and gave up eight hits and seven runs (all earned). The Pioneers also committed three errors in the game. Thurston was playing in its third state title game since 2008 when it fell 4-3 to Ashland in the Class 5A title game before winning the title in 2009 with a 5-1 win over Corvallis.