The Cascade High softball team faced some big challenges in the Class 4A championship game June 7 at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene.
The opponent, top-ranked Marist Catholic, featured a dominating pitcher, Malia Williams, who came into the game with 14 no-hitters to her credit. But the veteran, opportunistic Cougars, many of whom began playing together when they were 8- to 10-years-old, proved their mettle by rallying 3 times for a scintillating 3-2 win.
It was the third state softball title for Cascade, which came into the game ranked 2nd behind the Spartans. The two teams also met on March 17 in a non-league matchup won 3-0 by the Spartans.
“It did help some,” coach Marty Jeppsen said about the first encounter, “but it was so long ago and both teams have grown a lot and changed since that there wasn’t a lot to take away from it. What we did realize, however, was that we could play with them. Two of our starters had only been there 2 days after their basketball season ended and we knew we would get a lot better. We left that game encouraged.”
The Cougars showed up for the final ready to battle. Marist took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 4th against Cascade right-hander Hannah Walliman, but the Cougars answered with a run in the top of the 5th when Emma Hilfiker singled to left center to score Alyssa Collins, courtesy runner for Walliman.
The Spartans made it 2-1 in the bottom of the 5th by tallying an unearned run. But back came Cascade in the top of the 6th. Sophomore Kailee Bode singled through the left side, stole second and third and came across on Crystal Campbell’s sacrifice fly to left.
Bode, the Oregon West Conference player of the year, was in the thick of things all game for Cascade, with 2 hits, a run and an RBI. She batted 2nd against Marist, as she did in the semifinals against LaGrande after hitting leadoff all year.
“She had been struggling a bit, at least for the standard she had set for herself, in the past couple weeks,” Jeppsen said. “That was the beauty of this group. I had a talk with her and Emma Hilfiker and told them we were going to switch them in the lineup. Emma was hitting very well and we were hoping it would allow Kailee to be able to bunt more and see better pitches to hopefully get her going again. They took it in stride and the rest of the team picked her up during her struggling period, which goes back to the trust they have in each other.”
Walliman set down Marist in order in the bottom of the 6th, and the game went to the 7th tied 2-2. Cascade answered again. Caylen Metcalf punched a one-out single to left and Lexie Gidcumb was sent in to run. Gidcumb advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch and infield hits by Hilfiker and Bode brought her home for a 3-2 lead. Those 2 singles in the 7th gave Cascade 8 for the game; Williams had allowed none in her 3 previous playoff wins.
Cascade’s Walliman was perfect in the 7th as well, setting down the Spartans on a foul-out and two groundouts to complete a hard-earned 6-hitter that required 90 pitches. She struck out 6 batters and was far more efficient than Williams, who struck out 12 but needed 122 pitches to get there.
“Our goal was to be aggressive early in the count,” Jeppsen said. “She likes to get ahead of the hitter and then make them chase her rise ball out of the zone. We thought if we could get our bats going on that first good pitch, that was our best chance. We worked on recognizing the rise and trying to lay off it, but she is very good and we knew it wouldn’t be easy.
“I was very impressed with their discipline. We worked a lot of counts to full, including at least one that started 0-2. I think making her work that hard was a big factor. I’m not sure how many games she had the past couple years with over 100 pitches thrown but I’m sure it’s not many.
“Just very proud of this group and all of the hard work they put in.”
