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Sleep happy, Tigard! Makenna Reid sets incredible state record, Tigers earn impressive state title

“We expected each other to get it done, and we did. I’m really proud of everybody.”

By Paul Valencia | Photos by Dan Brood 

EUGENE — The strikeout that broke the record came with a runner on third base in a scoreless game. 

Makenna Reid would add one more strikeout, this time with two runners in scoring position. 

No matter how many strikeouts Reid recorded, though, she and her Tigard teammates would still have to score to win a state championship.

Might as well leave it up to the catcher who called all those pitches for all those strikeouts.

Karen Spadafora crushed a single to left field, scoring Nozomi Akin with the only run of the game in the bottom of the 10th inning Tuesday night at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene, giving the Tigers a 1-0 victory over Oregon City to claim the 2022 OSAA 6A softball state championship

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Reid struck out a championship-game-record 21 Pioneers in her three-hit shutout.

“I’m going to sleep happy,” she said.

“We expected each other to get it done, and we did,” Spadafora said. “I’m really proud of everybody.”

Oregon City pitcher Lily Riley was almost as effective, holding Tigard to two hits through nine innings. She struck out 14. 

After the teams were scoreless through nine, the international tiebreaker was used, with a runner on second base to start the 10th inning.

Oregon City popped out to open the frame. Riley put down a bunt single, giving the Pioneers two runners on with one out.

Reid was up to the challenge.

“I was just pretty much just trying to hit my spots on the outside corner,” Reid said. “Try not to let a run score, but at the same time, pitch smart and know where the runners are. Don’t let the outside get to me. I was thinking to myself, ‘Just hit spots and imagine everything.’ I saw myself getting out of there, so that was good.”

She did get out of the jam with strikeout No. 20 and then strikeout No. 21. The old record for a championship game was 19 strikeouts by Stephanie Falk of Beaverton in 1997. Falk struck out 19 in 13 innings. Reid bested that mark in 10 innings.

“To be honest, I want to strike everyone out,” Reid said with a grin. “When they hit the ball, I’m kind of like, ‘Ugh.’ I felt really good at the beginning of the game. And just running through adrenaline those last couple of innings was crucial.”

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“She has so much energy,” Spadafora said of Reid. “I don’t even have words. Makenna is so good and she wants to win for everybody and she wants to do it for the team.”

Getting to the bottom of the 10th still scoreless, the Tigers were confident. With Akin starting the frame on second base, Reid said she knew Spadafora or on-deck hitter Kani Korok would get the job done.

Spadafora made sure to end the suspense.

“Tie game, these are always stressful,” Spadafora said. “I needed to get something done. I found my pitch and tried to hit it really hard.”

The ball was crushed, just past the glove of the Oregon City shortstop. The throw home to try to get Akin was a little late and off the mark.

The Tigers rallied around Spadafora to celebrate the walk-off title.

“It feels really good, but I couldn’t have done it without everybody else,” Spadafora said. “It’s a team win.”

While Reid had all those strikeouts, there were also some defensive gems — plays that are needed to keep a game scoreless.

Gina Allen crushed a double for Oregon City in the ninth inning, but it was Tigard right fielder Kaylin Kisor who kept it a double. She played the ball perfectly off the wall and fired a strike back to the infield. No chance for Allen to try for third.

Kisor was ready, even in a game when fielders had very little to do.

“She’s amazing,” Kisor said of her pitcher. “So, it’s all about keeping your head in it. I tell all of them (the other outfielders) every inning, ‘Try not to fall asleep.’ She’s so good and there’s not a lot of plays out there.”

But Kisor was ready for this play. And it started in pregame prep. She said the outfielders always look to see what material the wall is, to get a feel for how a ball will react when it hits the wall.

“I just read it,” Kisor said.

In the seventh inning, it was Tigard shortstop Ella Dardis making a huge play. Oregon City’s Allyson Nordling had just collected her team’s first hit of the game with one out. The scoring threat was gone the next batter when Dardis, ranging to her left, scooped up a hot shot hit by Riley. Dardis stepped on second base for one, then threw to first for the double play.

Dardis was pumped.

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“It feels amazing, but it’s not myself making the play,” she said. “It’s like I’m doing it for the team and getting the outs for the team. It’s not about me. I’m doing this for the team.”

Oregon City also had some gems.

Center fielder Chloe Grimmer got on her horse and ran toward the wall on a blast by Tigard’s Sera Reilly. With her back toward the infield, Grimmer made the running catch on the warning track. The Pioneers also doubled up the Tigard runner, who started on first base, went past second base, but did not touch second base on her way back to first after Grimmer’s incredible catch.

Oregon City catcher Reese Gardner also made a fine play, getting the last out of the seventh inning on a foul popup behind the plate.

“I told them not to hang their heads because that was a heckuva game. I didn’t quite use that language,” Oregon City coach MacKenzie Washington said. “This is the first time in school history that Oregon City has ever been on this stage. I promised them we’ll be back. We had one senior on the field tonight. The fight in these sophomores, juniors and freshmen that we have, they’re not going away anytime soon. We’re going to get right back to work, and we’re going to be back.”

Tigard will say goodbye to eight seniors, including Reid, who has signed with Florida State.

“It doesn’t feel like my last game in a Tiger uniform. It’s weird,” Reid said. “It means a lot to end up on this note, but win or lose, I would have been proud no matter what. Sad to see all the seniors go, last game, but happy to end it here.”

A state championship game record. 

More important, a state championship for Tigard.

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