By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
STAYTON, Ore.– It had the echoing’s of April 29’s game here at Regis when Santiam and Regis met once more at Regis High School for the 2A/1A Special District 3 for the League Playoff Title Game.
The Rams jumped out to a 4-0 lead going into the sixth inning, only to see the Wolverines draw them back in at 4-3 going into the bottom half of the sixth inning. Maddie Allen hit a solo Home Run, Brooklyn Massey, and Ava Weir drove in runs during that rally.
Coming in after their 16-5 victory over Gervais on Tuesday to clinch the second and final Automatic Bid out of the District, the Wolverines were looking to improve upon their playoff positioning with a win on Thursday.
“I think it was after my home run hit. Everyone started to get a lot more louder and cheering each other on. We were communicating more, everyone else were showing up on bats, and then we got more runs in, ” said Allen. “Our defense was pretty locked in. We just got to show up more on the bats. We’re putting in all the work, and we’re ready for playoffs. “
Regis responded in the bottom half of the sixth off a Hadley Foster single.
Up 5-3, holding onto that two-run lead going to the seventh, the Rams looked to close out the League Playoff Title to go with their regular season title.
Santiam drew it closer after Lindsay Briley forced another error to drive in a run. The pressure was there with Regis leading 5-4 with two outs on the top half of the seventh.
But so was their defense.
Boston Flores sent a line drive to Sophie Wagner, and the junior made the catch to finish off the game in favor of the Rams.
“I knew that catch would be the end of the game right there, so I went for it all and went for it,” said Wagner. “This game is preparing us for the rest of the games in the playoffs because they’re all going to be as tough as this one. So it was good practice and working as hard as we did today. “
Azzilin Smith and Abby Searles each led the Rams with two-hits, and Addie Bishop struck out twn batters for Regis.
Allen led the Wolverines with three hits, and Boston Flores struck out five batters pitching for Santiam.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
