Dallas (5A), The Dalles (4A), Burns (3A), Grant Union/Prairie City (2A/1A) join Sheldon (6A) as Oregon softball champions — vote for top star
By René Ferrán | Photo by Taylor Balkom
EUGENE — Jordan Cresswell scored on a two-out error in the bottom of the eighth inning as top-seeded Dallas/Perrydale edged Mid-Willamette Conference rival Lebanon 6-5 on Saturday to win the program’s first OSAA Class 5A softball state title at Jane Sanders Stadium.
Cresswell led off the inning by singling to right-center. She was still at first base two outs later when Madison Ruman singled to right, moving Cresswell to third. She scored on Clara Woolsey’s mishandled groundball.
This season was the third time since 2017 that the Dragons (26-3) reached the final.
Lebanon, which reached its only other final in 2016, finished 21-6.
The Warriors lost their two conference matchups with Dallas but jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, with Alivia Holden’s two-run double the key blow.
Genevieve Osburg’s RBI double to left-center in the fifth inning pushed the lead to 4-0, but Dallas rallied for a 5-4 lead in the bottom half of the frame, taking advantage of three errors.
Lebanon tied it 5-5 in the sixth on Tatum Cole’s two-out RBI single.
Holden struck out 10 and allowed seven hits and one earned run in 7⅔ innings for the Warriors. Kadence Morrison earned the win for Dallas, scattering nine hits and striking out 12.
4A: The Dalles 16, Henley 0
The Dalles (26-3) romped to its first state championship since 1994 and second in program history, with Despina Seufalemua going 3 for 4 with three RBIs to lead its 11-hit attack against top-seeded Henley (22-4).
The Riverhawks closed out the win in five innings, with the top four batters in the lineup doing most of the damage, combining to go 7 for 14 with nine RBIs and nine runs.
Leadoff hitter Jeilane Stewart hit a three-run homer to spark a seven-run third inning that gave The Dalles an 8-0 lead, and Zoe LeBreton also had three RBIs and scored three times.
That was more than enough offense for Kennedy Abbas, who allowed one hit in five innings, striking out five.
Friday
3A: Burns/Crane 1, Scio 0 (12)
Burns (29-0) completed an undefeated season and repeated as state champion, winning the longest title game since 1997 and denying Scio (24-2) in the Loggers’ first appearance in a state final.
Macy Temple broke a scoreless tie in the top of the 12th inning, coming home on a throwing error. Ayla Davies dominated in the circle, striking out a tournament-record 23 batters and allowing three hits to outduel Scio’s Myleigh Cooper, who also gave up three hits while striking out 16.
2A/1A: Grant Union/Prairie City 10, Weston-McEwen/Griswold 0
A year after losing in its first final appearance, Grant Union (26-3) finished the deal, with Drewsey Williams tossing a three-hit shutout over six innings and batterymate Addy Northway getting three hits and scoring three times.
Savannah Watterson and Halle Parsons drove in two runs apiece for the Prospectors. Reece Jacobs scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to close out the victory over the TigerScots (21-8), who were in the title game for the first time since 2015.
