By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
MEDFORD, Ore.– The Salem Wellcare Dodgers entered the American Legion Triple-A State Playoffs as the underdogs.
But they put their best foot forward, especially against a Barbers squad that reached the American Legion Triple-A World Series last Summer.
Not just that. They led the Barbers 3-1 going into the bottom half of the fifth inning of Saturday’s game, Wellcare taking the lead in the top half of the third inning by loading up the bases with two walks and a Damon Lawrence (Sweet Home) single.
Down 1-0 at this point, Wellcare swung the lead into their favor. Shai Rasmussen (Sprague) tied the game up at one when he was hit by a pitch. Jackson Olson (West Salem) drove two on a single to give them the lead going into the bottom half of the fourth.
Cole Bartles (Sprague) paced the defense, throwing the Barbers bats off for the first four innings of the game. It felt like the Dodgers of old, contending in State Playoff Games and it was a nice sight after the program fell on lean times the last two years.
“That was the best performance by us all year, I’m super proud of the boys because no one thought we could do that, no one believing in us. We overcame that and shut everyone up, it was the most amazing thing ever. I’m so proud of this coaching staff and for this team for how they competed today and I think we all put it all out there today,” said Olson.
Bartles, pitching in his final game as a pitcher, went six-and-two-thirds with a strikeout. He put the ball in play, but soon enough the Barbers were able to find the games. They tied the game up at three after three innings and pulled ahead 6-3 going into the seventh.
“We played our hearts out, coming in as underdogs, we didn’t have anything to lose, we put our bodies on the line and everything to try to win and try our best,” Bartles. “It was awesome. My defense had a lot of confidence in them, we did great and I think I did good for my last outing in pitching.”
The Dodgers will look to extend their season Sunday morning against the Eugene Challengers. The Challengers fell to the Hillsdale Merchants 3-2 on Saturday morning to start Day 1 of the American Legion State Playoffs.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
