Stanfield defeats Santiam Christian 5-4 in extra inning of the state 3A championship baseball game on Friday in Keizer.

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By MATT ENTRUP

Staff writer

Now that the dust has settled in Corvallis and Keizer from another amazing finish to the high school sports year, it’s good opportunity to take another look at what may have been the best 3A baseball game of the season.

The Stanfield Tigers’ 5-4 win over Santiam Christian in the 3A championship had everything a spectator could ask for in a game.

It had a back story. The two teams had met about a month prior with the Eagles earning a come-from-behind 2-1 win with a walk-off home run by star pitcher Dru Draper in the bottom of the seventh inning.

It had historical significance. The Tigers had four players on the team who had watched their older brothers win titles on that same field in 2011, and assistant coach Trevor Morris was also on that team. Two of them (Dylan Grogan and Thyler Monkus) were bat boys in that game.

“It means a lot because now (our brothers) can’t rub it in our faces,” Monkus said.

It had heart. The game was the final one in the third base box for Tigers coach Bryan Johnson, who announced at the beginning of the season that he would be taking a job outside of the district at the end of the school year. His contributions to Stanfield baseball, athletics in general, and the community will ensure he’s long remembered and sorely missed.

It had action. Oh boy, did it have action. Double plays, hits in the gap, a game-saving play at the plate, a failed suicide squeeze, great clutch pitching and three extra innings; the only thing this game was missing was the long ball.

It was also painfully long for those of us in the press box nervously watching deadlines as the shadows crept across the infield at Volcanoes Stadium.

“For a sport that you just stand there, I don’t know if I’ve ever been that tired,” Grogan said.

The game was a minute shy of three hours, which actually ended up being a good thing as well.

I had just come from watching the Pilot Rock Rockets beat the Union Bobcats for the 2A/1A softball title in true-champion form. There would be no Rocky Balboa story for the Eagles, as the Rockets beat them mercilessly, 9-2, for the fifth time this season.

With just enough time to make the drive from Corvallis to Keizer for the start of Stanfield’s game, that left me transcribing interviews with the Rockets’ Tehya Ostrom and Bekah Roe as Stanfield took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a single by Ryan Bailey and sacrifice fly from Brody Woods.

The Tigers came out hitting Bobcats ace Draper hard, a good sign after he’d gone the distance and held them to one run in their last meeting.

Monkus was hit by a pitch in the game’s first at-bat, and Tony Flores followed with a double to put runners in scoring position right away. A rare strikeout by Grogan followed (he more than made up for an 0-for-3 day at the plate later), then the first of Bailey’s four hits gave the Tigers the lead. Woods came next with a sacrifice fly to center, and it appeared the Tigers just might continue their high-scoring romp through the postseason after all.

Should have known better.

Although Stanfield would chase Draper from the mound after three innings, the Eagles’ bullpen proved up to snuff and lefty Hunter Bain gave his team four scoreless innings of relief to keep the Tigers within striking distance.

Stanfield added its third run in the third when Grogan hit a sacrifice fly to bring Monkus in, and Monkus then made a nice double play in the bottom half of the inning by catching a popped-up bunt and then slinging the ball to first just ahead of a sliding Chance Ottinger.

As I rushed to get the Rockets’ game story written and delivered, Bain stranded a pair of Tigers in both the fourth and fifth innings, and Grogan had a pair of strikeouts to go with a pickoff at first by Monkus to highlight two more scoreless innings by the defense.

But then in the sixth, the Eagles sucked the excitement from Stanfield’s dugout with a three-run surge led by (who else?) Draper, who finished the game 2 for 4 with three RBIs. After a Stanfield error gave the Eagles a new lease on life, the Tiger killer appeared to have done it again with a bases-clearing double into the gap that tied the score 3-3 and flipped the momentum back to Santiam Christian.

“We had to take a minute because we kind of topped off there and stopped talking in the dugout,” Woods said.

“The fans are great. They were so loud. They helped us get back into the game,” Bailey said.

Grogan got the Tigers out of the inning with a fly ball to right field, where Jason Fitzpatrick was having a good game as the team’s only senior starter. Fitzpatrick went 2 for 5 at the plate and in the seventh inning had a sliding catch in foul territory near the dugout called off (some would argue wrongly) for being out of play.

Grogan pitched out of a jam again in the seventh and stranded Ottinger at second with a fly to Justin Keeney in center. Keeney would come up big for the Tigers later in the game.

The top of the eighth started off great for the Tigers as Bailey singled to lead off, stole second and went to third on a fly-out by Renner.

But with one out and runners on second and third (Woods had walked and also advanced on Renner’s fly), Johnson made his first risky call of the game with Fitzpatrick at the plate.

Having already put down a perfect bunt for a single earlier in the game, Fitzpatrick was asked to do it again with the added pressure of sending Bailey on the pitch. The pitch came in low and outside, and when Fitzpatrick was unable to make contact a rundown ensued that ended with Bailey tagged out at home by pitcher Daniel Hendrix.

Fitzpatrick then grounded out to the pitcher for the third out, and the writing was starting to appear on the wall for the Tigers.

Two quick outs in the bottom of the eighth on fly balls were a positive sign, but then Macal singled to bring up Draper.

Again, Draper delivered in the clutch, and Macal was off on the crack of the bat with the speed to bring home the title for the Eagles.

“When I saw that kid coming up again I was like, ‘ah’” Bailey said.

“Everybody thought the game was over right there,” Monkus said.

At least three people in Volcanoes Stadium weren’t thinking that. Keeney tracked the ball down at the wall and relayed it Flores who spun and put the ball on a line to Monkus at home plate, beating Macal by a step with his perfectly placed throw for the third out.

It wasn’t until the 10th that the Tigers were able to take advantage of the sudden momentum swing as Hendrix struck out Flores swinging to end Stanfield’s ninth with Damien Curiel on second.

Woods relieved Grogan to start the ninth after 123 pitches, nine strikeouts and four walks from the junior.

Grogan moved over to third, and had to make the long throw to first on the Eagles’ first at-bat in the 9th, and Bailey had a nice scoop to finish the out. Woods struck out the next two batters just three days after a six-inning outing against Rainier in the semifinals. Woods was the pitcher of record for three of the Tigers’ four postseason wins.

“Three wins in the postseason. Three out of four wins as a sophomore, that’s stepping it up,” Johnson said.

Grogan took a pitch to the shoulder to lead off Stanfield’s 10th, and then took off for the most exciting 270-foot sprint in the Tigers’ season when Bailey sliced a two-strike double down the line in left and into the corner.

Grogan slid across home well in front of throw and Bailey followed him in when Woods hit a single to center. Hendrix retired the next three batters, and the Tigers headed out into the field to face the Eagles’ No. 9, 1 and 2 batters in the lineup. Waiting menacingly in the five-hole was Draper, who no doubt was just itching to have another chance at dealing a death blow to the Tigers.

Grogan went deep into the hole behind third for the first out, but then Brady Patterson put down a perfect bunt to get an infield single and bring the tying run to the plate.

Josh Swigart put the tying run on base with a single, and then another Stanfield error allowed Patterson to score while keeping a runner on first with two outs for Macal. Draper on deck.

But that’s where he would stay as Woods got Macal to ground up the middle to Flores, who fielded the ball cleanly and made an effortless throw to first for the final out.

And after the game as I quickly tried to track down players on the field for one last interview of the season, I got to witness the cycle starting again as young boys, probably 10 years old, looked for autographs from their favorite players.

“It’s definitely way better from this side,” Grogan said. “It was a fun game, those are the games you want to watch.”

I didn’t get to witness Stanfield’s first state title, but I’m glad I saw their latest, because this is sure to be a game that’s talked about for a long time. Way to go Tigers, way to go.

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Contact Matt Entrup at mentrup@eastoregonian.com or (541) 966-0838. Follow him on Twitter @mattentrup.