Freshman called up from JV drives in Olympia's go-ahead runs in WIAA 4A state baseball championship

PASCO, Wash. — As Lincoln Berg prepared to step into the batter’s box in the top of the seventh with the score tied in the Class 4A state championship game Saturday, Callum Weldon, the 10-year-old son of Olympia coach Derek Weldon, gave him an abbreviated pep talk.

“He said ‘score those two runs, do whatever you can,” Berg said. “And I did it. I just wanted to make him happy.”

Berg drilled a line drive single past the reactionary glove of Puyallup pitcher Hunter Grasser into center field, scoring two go-ahead runs. The hit ended up making the difference in the Bears’ 7-6 win over Puyallup in the WIAA Class 4A state championship at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.

“For me, that’s just so exciting,” Berg said. “I’m a freshman on varsity.”

Olympia’s first state baseball championship in the school’s 115-year history may be best remembered by the play that sealed the game.

Taber Fast, a Texas Tech signee, launched a throw home on a line drive single to right field into the glove of senior catcher Lane Fuller, who tagged the tying run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

(Washington high school baseball state championship: scores, recaps for all six title games)

The go-ahead runs? Those were driven in by a freshman who had logged one varsity at-bat entering the postseason.

When he got the chance, Berg made an instant impact on offense for the top-ranked team in the state’s biggest classification. 

Early in the 4A District 3/4 tournament, Berg entered into the lineup when a player was ejected. He went 3-for-3 in his first full game in the varsity lineup. Then against Curtis in the district semis, he went 2-for-3.

So they rolled with him in the lineup through the postseason. Weldon thought to himself, why change something that's working?

“He’s getting these quality ABs again and it’s like, how do you take this guy out?” Weldon said. “You can’t."

On Saturday, he hit a single in the second inning and drove in a run on a sacrifice bunt to give Olympia a 3-1 lead in the third. Fast double put runners on second and third in the seventh, setting up Berg's go-ahead two-RBI single.

“That kid has a quiet confidence, a maturity beyond his 15 years of age that’s really unique,” Weldon said. “He’s a really good player.”

--Andy Buhler; @AndyBuhler.

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Lead photo by John Keller