Drake Gabel, West Linn outduel Noble Meyer, Jesuit to repeat as 6A Oregon baseball champions: ‘It feels so much better to prove everyone wrong’

By René Ferrán | Photos by Leon Neuschwander 

KEIZER — Last spring, with the West Linn baseball team scuffling, coach Joe Monahan brought his players to Volcanoes Stadium for a check-in session.

“You know the key to getting to this place is between your ears,” he reminded them, and the Lions responded by winning their final eight games — including a 14-0 victory over Canby in the OSAA Class 6A state final that ended a 40-year title drought.

Monahan recalled that visit Saturday afternoon after his Lions became the first school at the state’s highest classification to repeat as champions since Madison in 1969-70 with a 2-0 victory over Jesuit.

The team arrived early to Volcanoes Stadium and encountered a locked gate — “Well, it wasn’t locked, but it looked like it was locked,” Monahan said, smiling.

His players approached the gate, and Monahan had them wait there.

“I said, ‘Hey, where’s the key?’” Monahan recalled.

“And they all said, ‘It’s between the ears.’”

The Lions (26-6) took that message to heart in a matchup against one of the nation’s top prep pitchers in Jesuit right-hander Noble Meyer, the No. 11 prospect in mlb.com’s latest draft rankings.

Unlike last season, when West Linn romped to a 14-0 victory over Canby in the most lopsided final ever at the 6A level, the Lions knew they wouldn’t get many opportunities against Meyer.

The senior lived up to the hype, allowing two hits (both in the first inning) and striking out 14 over six innings.

But West Linn took advantage of the chances it scratched out and received a stellar pitching performance from senior left-hander Drake Gabel, who scattered six hits in tossing a complete game.

“We knew we’d have to make every play count and every pitch count, and that’s what we did,” said senior first baseman Jake Holmes, who muscled a two-out single to left-center field in the first inning to score Danny Wideman, giving the Lions an early 1-0 lead.

“I know we’re the No. 1 seed, but in my opinion, I’m pretty sure everyone saw us as the underdog. Nobody really expected us to pull off the win, so it just feels so much better to prove everyone wrong.”

The Crusaders (26-6) spent all spring on a “revenge tour” after losing early in the playoffs last season. With a lineup stacked with Division I signees and Meyer on the mound, they appeared poised to add a third state championship after winning titles in 2016 and 2019.

Coach Colin Griffith broke down when talking about the journey this senior class endured during its four years on the Southwest Portland campus.

“They had a really tough challenge,” Griffith said. “Nobody could ever prepare for a freshman year where it’s taken away from you (by the COVID pandemic), a sophomore year where it’s not a full season. And these seniors, we asked them to be leaders, we teach them what the mission of Jesuit is — character and integrity and leadership.

“We were on them for all four years, and they kept stepping up to the plate. And I can’t thank them enough for leaving Jesuit in a better place.”

Holmes’ hit was the last one West Linn would manage against Meyer, but in the fifth inning, the Lions benefitted from three Crusaders errors to tack on a critical insurance run.

“We were just trying to put the ball in play, put the pressure on them, make them make their plays, and we ended up getting a couple runs off of it,” Wideman said.

Those two runs were all the Lions would need with Gabel on the mound. The Three Rivers co-pitcher of the year, headed to Seattle University in the fall, presented a stark contrast to Meyer, who hits the high 90s with his fastball to go with a devastating slider.

Gabel hits only the mid-80s on the radar gun, “but the thing about him and his fastball is that his arm slot is so weird, especially coming from a lefty, that it just almost feels like it rises,” said Lions catcher Ryan VandenBrink. “So, all those guys were under the ball, and the ball was dying in the air tonight. We got all those fly balls and popups, and I think that’s directly from Drake’s fastball. 

“And we knew the way Drake’s been shoving all year, if we have Drake on the mound and our defense behind us, once we got to 2-0, we’re feeling pretty confident.”

The Crusaders put traffic on the bases in five of their seven at-bats, but no baserunner got past second base as the lefty induced weak contact much of the game.

“It might sound a little nerdy, but analytically, his fastball’s got a good amount of carry,” Meyer said. “Every single one of us, we were right underneath it. He’s what, co-pitcher of the year for the league? He absolutely deserved it. Yeah, it stings a bit that we outhit them, but Drake pitched one of the best games I’ve ever seen.

“I just look at it from a baseball perspective — he’s a competitor, and he wasn’t going to lose in his mind. I mean, he’s the best pitcher on Earth as far as he knows, and I respect the hell out of him for it.” 

Gabel didn’t feel any pressure going up against a pitcher who will spend the upcoming weeks going to the MLB Draft Combine in Phoenix and prepping for a likely top-15 selection next month.

“I don’t try to focus on that,” he said. “I try to focus on me and my team, because I know that if we play our brand of baseball, we can beat anybody.”

He also benefited from several stellar plays in the outfield, including center fielder Gabe Howard tracking down a deep shot from Brock Leitgeb to lead off the fifth and Wideman’s diving catch in shallow right of a flare off the bat of Levi Jones in the sixth after Charlie Sturm doubled to open the inning. 

“My philosophy is I’m going to pound the zone, pound my spots, and they’re going to hit the ball and put it in play because that’s a really good hitting team,” Gabel said. “And I know that I have a defense like that behind me. I know those guys are going to make those plays, and it just boosts the whole team’s morale.”

Gabel got two quick outs in the top of the seventh before the Crusaders mounted one final rally. Leitgeb worked a walk, and pinch-hitter Dustin Doherty grounded a single through the hole to left field, prompting a quick visit to the mound.

No one wearing a Lions uniform seemed nervous, though.

“If you’d asked me yesterday if I thought we would shut them out, I would have laughed at you,” Holmes said. “But I mean, that’s just what Drake does. He’s one of the most resilient, composed (pitchers), and he’s a battler. He’s a killer.”

On a 1-0 pitch, Gabel coaxed a weak popup to third baseman Jackson Curdy, who secured the final out and then threw his glove to the air and joined the dogpile in front of the mound.

“I’m so happy that we were able to come back and do it again,” Gabel said. “This will be a memory that I’ll never forget.”

VandenBrink soaked in the moment, and then the junior thought about the unprecedented — a third consecutive championship at the state’s highest level.

“We have to try,” he said, chuckling. “We’re going to go out and try to do the same thing next year. That’s all we can do. I mean, to be able to do this twice, it leaves a legacy. For my class, the classes behind me, and just West Linn baseball in general, we’ve been playing our tails off for a while. It’s super fun.”