By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– For this senior group with the Blanchet Catholic baseball team, they are hoping that this is the year that they will finish the story and get the job done in getting that State Championship Title.
As freshmen, they went on a historic run when they reached the 3A State Semi’s, where they took Santiam Christian to nine innings before falling to the Eagles on the road. The next year, their first in 2A/1A, they reached the State Title Game and kept pace with Juggernaut Kennedy early on before the Trojans pulled away for good down the stretch. As juniors, they reached the 2A/1A State Semi’s once again before falling to Umpqua Valley Christian to close out the season in the Final Four.
They have the experience, talent, and ability to do it. Now it’s just a matter of getting it done.
“It’s been pretty cool, we haven’t finished the job yet, but that’s what this year is about. I’m pretty confident we can do it. We have the talent for sure, I think we’ll be able to,” said Carson McNally. “All of our best players have been here three-or-four years now. So I think it’ll be helpful that we got that experience in the big games and all that stuff.”
“We’ve been working all off-season. We’re preparing. We’ve been seeing a lot of live pitching with each other. That’s one of the best tools we have this year, being able to compete against each other and be as strong as we can,” said Dylan Cuff.
Cuff returns behind the dish for the senior-heavy Cavaliers squad catching for a pitching staff that features McNally, Noah Hancock, and Drew Bartels, to name a few as they make their return to 3A on the baseball diamond. Their last game of last Spring was a good learning experience for the squad when they lost to the Monarchs.
A good learning experience in not overlooking any competition as they embark on this season and not overlook anyone that they play. An additional piece of fuel, that extra log that they’ve thrown on the fire of motivation and drive to make sure they can get to the finish line come in June with the State Championship in hand.
“We can’t take any games off, and you see what happens when you do. We learned a lot from it, and I think it’s preparing us for this year,” said Cuff of last year.
Blanchet opens the season March 17 at South Umpqua before hosting Umpqua Valley Christian March 19.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
