EUGENE – Before wrapping up her prolific high school softball career Friday, Scio senior pitcher Myleigh Cooper had some very important business to finish.
The sting of championship game losses the last two seasons lingered for the top-seeded Loggers, and a third chance at winning the program's first state title brought a sense of urgency Friday against No. 2 Dayton in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 3A final at the University of Oregon.
“We came here with a different mindset than we did the last two years,” said Cooper, the two-time 3A player of the year. “It was calm, but it was like, 'We've got to get stuff done.'”
Scio (28-1) came through in a big way, jumping on Special District 3 rival Dayton early and roaring to a 9-3 victory. The finals defeats to Burns/Crane in 2023 and South Umpqua in 2024 pushed the Loggers to come back and finish the job.
“Finally,” said Cooper, who set state records this season for single-season home runs (26) and career home runs (75). “It was definitely heartbreaking, but thankfully, we took it and got a little bit angry about it. We used it to make us better and make ourselves stronger as a team.”
Cooper recorded the win in the circle – allowing six hits, striking out eight and walking two – and the state's highest-scoring offense gave her plenty of support. Junior Cam Dalke went 3 for 3 with a triple and three RBIs, senior Meagan Trissel hit a two-run single and juniors Macy Johnson and Skylur Brown each had two hits for Scio, which rapped nine hits.
The lessons learned from the past two seasons paid off, according to Dalke, the catcher.
“We learned how to win when we were faced with tough teams,” Dalke said. “We learned how to face adversity and come out the other side, whereas before we didn't have that.
“It was so important because it was our third time. We were like, 'We're not walking out of here without a trophy.'”
Scio struck for four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take control against the Pirates (26-4), which handed the Loggers their only defeat this season.
Scio loaded the bases with no outs on singles by Cooper and Johnson and a walk by Dalke. Cooper scored on a wild pitch, and Trissel made it 3-0 with a two-run single.
Sophomore Emma Thatcher drew a bases-loaded walk for a 4-0 lead. Cooper had a chance to blow open the game with the bases loaded and two outs, but struck out swinging against Dayton freshman Gabby Chupp.
Scio extended the lead to 6-0 in the second inning. With runners on second and third and one out, freshman Gracie Ferguson hit a hard ground ball to Dayton sophomore shortstop Isabella Lopez, who was unable to field the ball, and two runners scored.
Dayton got its first run in the top of the third inning on an RBI double by senior Lillie Brooks, but Scio got an RBI single by Dalke in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-1.
The Pirates drew within 7-3 in the top of the fourth on a two-run triple by junior Rachel Baumholtz. Dalke's two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth restored the lead to 9-3.
Cooper, who drew eight walks in the previous two playoff games, went 1 for 2 with a walk and a hit by pitch. For the season, she had 26 home runs and 72 RBIs. She also struck out 202 batters in 120 2/3 innings.
Cooper added another state record to her resume Friday by finishing the season batting .814 (57 for 70), breaking the old mark of .794, set by Makenna Partain of Banks in 2015.
“All of my individual accomplishments, they're great, but in the end, it doesn't mean anything if he rest of my team doesn't rally around me and do their jobs,” Cooper said. “This one just shows how all of our hard work and our family-like atmosphere has really worked for us, and pushed us.”
It is the first title in a girls sport for Scio since winning the girls basketball championship in 1976. Scio coach Jim Mask was a member of Scio's state-title wrestling team in 1982.
Dayton fell short in bidding for its fifth title and first since 2018.
jerryu@osaa.org
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