Oregon City softball head coach Mackenzie Washington remains steadfast in her stance on the controversial ending in last season’s Class 6A state title game.
The Pioneers, appearing in their second consecutive championship, battled the Sheldon Irish to the bottom of seven scoreless innings before all-state first team Oregon City pitcher Lily Riley was called for an obstruction at third base, setting up for an unconventional walk-off for the Irish amid a frenzied final stretch.
“I always tell people it was never the call that I was angry about,” said Washington. “It was that there was no explanation. And honestly, we left the field not actually knowing what happened. I had multiple girls in tears because they thought it was on them. …
“I was watching the ball, I was watching the girls, I was watching everything. I had so many questions.”
The raw emotion of a narrow loss at that stage wasn’t new for the Pioneers who, in 2022, took Tigard to 10 innings in the state title before falling 1-0. Last season’s came with an added wrinkle, though. A clip of the final sequence went semi-viral, causing a prolonged fallout mentally.
“I personally had a hard time at first,” said junior Chloe Stromme, who played a role in the last play. “I didn’t talk about it. Anytime I did, I was at a loss of words, just because me, personally, I thought it was my fault. But now that I’m able to talk about it, you know, I know that the game didn’t depend on one person or one play.”
She added: “The lesson I had to learn was just knowing that like, one play doesn’t define me. And that’s like one in a million of the plays that I’ve made in my softball career. And knowing that this year, my goal is to have (my teammates’ backs) more than I did last year.”
Even so, that perspective has been fostered over time for a Pioneers team that has hovered near the top of the state going on three years now. Since taking over four seasons ago, Washington has been intentional about coaching the mental side of the game.
“We win as a team and lose as a team,” said Riley, “and so I think just having that mindset has really helped us both kind of move through it.”
It’s an approach that pushed Oregon City (4-0) to two-straight title appearances. And it is the ethos of this Pioneers team, picked No. 2 in the Class 6A preseason coaches poll after returning all but three players from last year’s group.
Washington’s team has leaned into the adversity that last season’s ending brought; used it as a learning lesson and a motivational blueprint. The moment felt big, the coach said, but Oregon City has the opportunity this season to do something far larger, in potentially becoming the first team since North Medford (2012-2014) to reach three straight 6A title games.
That is where the Pioneers’ focus now lies.
Oregon City returns six starters in Riley — a Utah Valley signee who gave up 67 hits, struck out 220 and walked 30 with an ERA of 0.93 in 135 1/3 innings last season — seniors Ally Pagel (left fielder), Reese Gardner (catcher) and Chloe Grimmer (center fielder), as well as juniors Ellie Joseph (right fielder) and Stromme (third base).
Departed seniors, first baseman Lily Castor, shortstop Gina Allen and second baseman Allyson Nordling leave a hole at the top of the Pioneers’ batting order behind the leadoff hitter Pagel. Nordling hit eight of the team’s 12 home runs last season, but Washington is confident in her team’s offensive output, even if that might look a touch different this season.
“The girls always get tired of me saying it,” she said, “but I would much rather have it be death by base hits, rather than (us) relying on the long ball.”
Allen’s absence opens the door at shortstop, but sophomore Caiden Grimmer played meaningful innings there last season while Allen missed much of the early season due to injury. Senior Sam Marsh will take over at second after spot roles in each of the last two playoffs runs. Talented freshman Rylie Bugni is expected to push for playing time there as well.
The Pioneers have picked up right where they left off defensively, even coming one walk away from a perfect game in their season opener against Glencoe.
The energy, Washington and her players said, is different this year. In their first title run, they were “underdogs.” Last season, meanwhile, was all about pressure. The roster remained largely in-tact and now a return trip was simply expected.
“That takes a toll,” said Washington. “It’s a long three-month season, when you carry that weight on your shoulders through every at-bat, through every pitch (and) every inning of every game. The energy last year was too rigid. (We were) too scared to play softball, too scared to make a mistake.”
The Pioneers have been in this spot a few times now, experiencing both the best and the worst of expectations.
“We have that fire and passion to do as well as we did last year and compete like we did last year and the years before,” Riley said, “but I think something that’s always been established is to have fun, and to stay loose. And I think we do better when we do that.
“I think that attitude of just having fun and being happy to be there with each other and be on the field together really reflects on how we play and it just kind of takes the pressure off.”
A once-young Oregon City team has suddenly become senior-heavy. The six-player senior class is the first that Washington has overseen for the entirety of their high school careers. It’s rendered the idea of enjoying the moment even more important.
Even so, the Pioneers’ primary goal is unwavering.
“I know everyone wants to get back,” said Stromme.