EUGENE – One year after falling flat in the state championship game, the St. Helens softball team capitalized on a second chance Saturday.
The second-seeded Lions shook off a two-run deficit and turned back longtime rival and top-seeded Scappoose 5-3 in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 4A final at the University of Oregon.
It is the fifth title for St. Helens but the first since 1996. It comes after the Lions lost to Astoria 7-0 in last year's state championship game.
“Coming into this game, we were mentally and physically feeling at our best,” St. Helens coach Natasha Sharp said. “I don't think it was the same last year.
“This group of girls really plays for each other. It's not about individual accolades. I think that's why we came out on top today.”
Junior pitcher Eme Curaming, who took the loss in last year's final, was the winner Friday. Curaming – who allowed 10 hits, struck out one and walked two – said she was better prepared for the challenge this time..
“We knew we deserved it right off the bat,” Curaming said. “And it was good to know that we were playing our rivals. That put a little pressure on us, but pressure creates diamonds.”
Junior third baseman Jadyn Pense went 4 for 4 with an RBI to lead a 13-hit attack for St. Helens (23-6). Senior shortstop Addy Ellis went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI, junior first baseman Dakota Drake went 2 for 4 with an RBI and senior second baseman Halli Heys drove in a run for the Lions.
Pense, a state champion wrestler, said last year's championship defeat “motivated us a lot.”
“I had every bit of confidence that we would make it back here,” Pense said. “Last year, we were just off. I think we were in our heads because it's a big stadium. But we've been here before, and we knew what it was like, and they were the newcomers.”
After losing to Cowapa League rival Astoria in last year's final, the Lions found themselves facing another league foe in the title game, this time their Seven Mile War rival in Scappoose.
Scappoose (26-4) won the Cowapa title this season, but St. Helens won two of the three league games against the Indians, including the last two meetings.
“It gave us confidence, but we didn't want to get too big-headed,” Pense said. “We knew we just had to play our game.”
Scappoose took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by senior Emily Greiner and a sacrifice fly by junior Sophia Bloyd. The Lions didn't flinch, though.
“We know we can get the bats on,” Sharp said. “We've seen them three times this year. … We knew our time would come. Our bats have been hot.”
After falling behind, Curaming said, “It just gave us more motivation. We know how to hit these pitchers.”
St. Helens quickly answered with two runs n the top of the third. Ellis doubled over the left fielder's head and Pense knocked her in with a sharp single to left. Pense scored when junior Addi Andrehsen's hard-hit ground ball got past the shortstop and into center field.
The Lions pushed ahead 5-2 with three runs in the fourth. Ellis and Drake had RBI singles and Heys drove in a run with a groundout, all against Scappoose sophomore Elly Casey, who replaced senior starter Saige Casey in the circle one batter into the inning.
Scappoose scored a run in the bottom of the seventh when Elly Casey doubled and scored on a double by junior Kayla Brainerd, but Curaming closed out the complete-game victory.
The championship was the perfect sendoff for the team's three seniors in Ellis, Heys and catcher Madelyn Hancock, the Cowapa player of the year. Sharp said that the elusive title “means everything” to the St. Helens community.
“Softball is very big in St. Helens,” Sharp said. “My seniors that have played four years, I think this means everything to them. We owe a lot of where our program is at to them. They're great leaders.”
The Lions face a bigger challenge next year in moving up to 5A.
“It means so much because we're not going to be in the Cowapa next year,” Curaming said. “So we had to go out with a bang.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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