By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
ROSEBURG, Ore.– After three years of heartbreak, the Blanchet baseball team finally achieved their goal:
Winning the State Championship.
And they won it in walk-off fashion when Josh Grossman scored from third on a pass ball to hand the Cavaliers the 4-3 victory over Cascade Christian.
Grossman, who’s seen a far share of personal heartbreak through his High School career with an ankle injury during his freshman year and two torn ACL’s, came in as a pinch-runner for Dylan Cuff after Cuff’s two-out single in the inning and eventually made his way to third by the time Carson McNally came to the plate with him and Tyson Smith on the corners.
“I’ve been watching these guys for four years now, and I always imagined being out here being with them, I’ve played baseball forever. They came out here, put in the work the last four years, and all we did was do what we’re supposed to do and got the job done,” said Grossman.
To get to Grossman’s winning run, the Cavaliers had to grind out a tough game against the Challengers. Carson McNally dueled with Cascade Christian’s Blake Patereau in the Southern Oregon heat at Champions Car Wash Field.
“It was hot. I didn’t have my best stuff, but I fought through it. My team got my backed me up, and we’re Champions now,” said McNally.
The Cavaliers struck first, with a three run third inning. Cuff had a two-run double, and McNally drove in another to give Blanchet a 3-0 lead.
But slowly, the Challengers chipped away. Eventually tying the game up at three in the top half of the seventh. Cascade Christian scored twice in the fifth before tying it in the seventh off an Andy Alvarez single.
“We knew that if we came out hot, starting hitting …we started off with a few errors, but it ended up not hurting us at the end and that’s all that matters,” said Cuff.
Noah Hancock and Drew Bartels struck out and lined out before Cuff got on board with a single, which allowed Grossman to come in. Tyson Smith singled, and Grossman legged it from first to third to set up a possible opportunity to win it in regulation with McNally at the plate.
Cascade Christian went to the bullpen looking for the last out as they brought in CJ Bonner.
For Bonner, unfortunately, and to the benefit of Blanchet, his first pitch got away from him, allowing enough time for Grossman to score from third to win the game.
“It’s time to hang a banner at Blanchet for the boys,” Grossman said of what was going through his mind. “It’s special. I’ve put in a lot of work in physical therapy to make it back onto the field and hopefully contribute helping these guys win, and it worked out.”
Four long years. They got it done. McNally said that to his teammates after they got the first-place trophy. Semifinals as freshmen, finals defeat as sophomores, another Semifinal defeat last year, now this senior group graduates as State Champions.
“We finally did it. It took four years, but we finally got the job done,” said McNally. “It’s been a long ride, but we made it.”
“We knew that this year was the year that we could do it, but we had to stick it out. Having a great year and doing our thing…we knew that this year was the year to do it, and we did it,” adds Cuff.
“It’s special. It’s something we’ll celebrate for a while,” said Grossman.
McNally, in his final prep start, went the distance with eight strikeouts. Cuff and Smith, both seniors, led the team with two hits each. Cuff also led the team with 2RBI’s.
Patereau struck out five pitching in five-and-a-third innings pitched for Cascade Christian. Seven different Challengers collected a hit, and three different Cascade Christian hitters drove in a run.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
