Blanchet Catholic baseball mashes way to league title, eyes big postseason run

Last season, Blanchet Catholic baseball fell agonizingly short of capturing its first state title in program history.

That upstart Cavaliers squad, which featured just one senior, found itself on the wrong end of a 10-0 loss to Kennedy at Volcanoes Stadium as the Trojans notched their second straight 2A/1A championship. While the defeat stung, the Cavaliers' coaches and players knew that with the nucleus of their team set to return for a 2024 campaign, they would have a chance to produce another special season.

This week, Blanchet got some long-awaited revenge against Kennedy — and capped off a perfect league season in the process.

'Had this series circled on our calendar'

The Cavaliers swept the Trojans in a three-game series to improve to 24-1 on the year and finish 15-0 in Special District 2 play. They steamrolled their way to 10-0 and 13-3 wins during a Wednesday doubleheader, and then completed the sweep with a 9-3 victory on Friday.

“We’ve had this series circled on our calendar since the start of the season,” Blanchet Catholic coach David Winstead said. “Just because we lost to them in the state championship game last year. Really, it gave us momentum to think about our season; they’ve worked really hard in the offseason to prepare themselves and get better and better.”

With its second win on Wednesday, Blanchet officially wrapped up the league title. Drew Bartels went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI, and Dylan Cuff went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI. On the mound, Riley Pratt earned the win by holding a dangerous Kennedy offense to three runs on three hits in 4.0 innings. Landon Gerig tossed the final inning to close out the win.

Earlier that day, Bartels, the Cavaliers’ ace, tossed a five-inning complete game shutout, struck out six, and allowed just one hit.

“I think as a team we played really well,” Bartels said. “We hit the ball really well; we got their starting pitcher in the first game out in three innings. Just put a lot of stress on them with good at bats, long at-bats, putting the ball in play, making the defense work.”

Cavaliers propelled by close-knit roster

For much of the season, that same blueprint of steady pitching and explosive offense has led to success for Blanchet.

The Cavaliers have yet to lose to a team from Oregon this season; their only loss came at the hands of Centaurus (Colorado) at the Coach Bob Invitational in Arizona. Since then, they have scored 10 or more runs in 15 of the 17 games they have played. That includes seven instances in which they scored 20 or more runs.

With 362 total runs this season, Blanchet’s offense is the most productive in the state by a wide margin. Douglas ranks second with 316 runs.

Sunset (31) is the only team in the state that has allowed fewer runs than the Cavaliers (43).

“Most of these guys, it’s their third year playing together,” Winstead said. “We surprised some people two years ago when we made it to the semifinals in the 3A tournament. Those guys were freshmen and sophomores, and have been going together ever since. We’ve got a core of juniors and seniors — a couple of freshmen and sophomores — but most of them have been together for three years, playing summer ball together and everything. So it’s sort of an extension of what they’re doing.”

No instance better illustrated that cohesion than a close-fought win on March 20.

In a road game at The Dalles — a much larger school that currently sits at No. 7 in the 4A state rankings with a 19-7 record — Blanchet raced out to a big lead in the early innings, only to watch the advantage vanish when the Riverhawks rallied to tie the game with seven runs in the bottom of the seventh.

The Cavaliers stayed the course, though, and grinded out back-to-back two-out walks before scoring the go-ahead run on an error to escape with a win.

“That was a big turning point, just realizing, ‘Oh, this team is different,’” Blanchet senior captain Griffen Mucken said on Wednesday. “Today was, too. Just establishing that dominance over the team that beat us last year is good.”

What's next for Blanchet baseball?

Blanchet will close out the regular season with a non-league tune-up tilt at home against Sisters this coming Wednesday.

The Cavaliers are well aware the script has been flipped from last spring. When postseason play begins later this month, they will have a significant target on their backs after bulldozing through the regular season.

In order to cope with the pressure, they'll lean on last year's experience at Volcanoes Stadium.

"All of our starters played in that (state title game) last year," Mucken said. "I think last year, we were really just young. There was maybe some doubt — a, 'Never been there before' kind of thing. A lot of our team was sophomores. Even the juniors that had played last year, we had the COVID year, so it was kind of like stepping in and getting to see what that's like. I think that maturity, having been there before now, I truly don't think that any team in the state has the same amount of experience that we have, with a whole squad that's been there."

Jarrid Denney covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at JDenney@salem.gannett.com or on X @jarrid_denney

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Blanchet Catholic baseball downs Kennedy to avenge state title loss