Off the Broadfoot: Grant baseball walks off Central Catholic in state second round via HBP

GRANT PARK – Central Catholic and Grant High School baseball seemed evenly matched in their 6A state tournament round two showdown Wednesday, May 27 at Grant.

After a bases-loaded walk to Generals senior Joaquin Goodlow, the game was tied at eight in the bottom of the seventh.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Grant junior Callum Broadfoot stepped into the box.

And the difference in this one turned out to be one little toe.

Broadfoot wore the second pitch of his at bat on his foot, sending a General home for the walk-off winner in a 9-8 victory.

“I asked my hitting coach before that at bat, ‘Should I crowd the plate?’” Broadfoot said. “I was trying to get a good AB and not swing away. I saw spin on the first pitch, took it and it got called for a strike. Next pitch another spinner, don’t budge and just take it.”

Broadfoot’s foot brought about the end to a back-and-forth, inner-city grudge match that saw more people in the crowd standing than sitting because of the amount of people on hand to watch.

Grant started the seventh trailing 8-7, but stayed disciplined at the plate as Rams freshman relief pitcher Jett Jones struggled finding the zone early.

Generals senior Elliot Raiton started the bottom half with a walk, and his pinch runner in Calvin Cowing swiped second to put the game-tying run in scoring position.

Sophomore Phillip Elliston walked next though, followed by a senior Luke Caron strikeout. Junior Jake Fisher brought back the patience though, taking a walk to load the bases with one out.

Junior Calvin Sorensen was next, and Jones was able to sit him down on three pitches for the second out.

Goodlow was next, pushing the count to 3-1. The fifth pitch was called a strike, leaving Grant one strike away from elimination.

On the sixth pitch, Goodlow took the ball high to draw the walk and tie the game.

Two pitches later, it was party time for the home-standing Generals.

“Our main thing was just belief,” Broadfoot said of what the team said before the last inning. “I don’t feel like we really said much, we all just have trust in each other. There was never a doubt in my mind. I was obviously stressed out, but I didn’t think we were going to lose at any point in the game.”

Rams strike first

The two starting pitchers were winning early as Rams starter in freshman Cole Migaki was perfect through three innings.

Meanwhile on the offensive side, junior Jake Pachmayr got the scoring started in the second when he blasted a solo home run to left-center field, putting the Rams up 1-0.

Sophomore Blake Anzellotti followed it with a single and eventually moved his way to third on a groundout and single from junior Servando Lopez.

Sophomore Will Emerson struck out, but reached on a dropped-third strike, allowing Anzellotti to score and put the Rams up 2-0, a lead that held until the fourth.

“Jake’s been seeing it really well, I think in the last 10 games he’s hitting like .668 or something like that,” Central Catholic head coach Justin Barchus said. “Their guy came out and he was throwing it pretty well. I didn’t think it would take eight or nine to win, but I knew we were going to have to score more than three.”

Grant got one back in the bottom of the fourth when Raiton and Elliston both got hit by a pitch to start the frame. Fisher was able to ground out to short stop to score Raiton after Raiton stole third earlier.

Central Catholic got the run right back in the top of the fifth though when an error allowed Jones to reach safely, followed by a single from Rams senior Spencer Ames to move Jones to third. Pachmayr flew out to center to bring home Jones and make it 3-1.

Grant takes control

That’s when the big Grant rally happened.

Waking up the bats was Goodlow, who started the fifth inning off by launching a double off the deep right field wall.

Goodlow, who has been filling in this year for a hurt Grant Snidow at second base, has made the most of his opportunity this season and become a vital contributor for the Generals.

“(Goodlow) got an opportunity there at second base and he has been outstanding,” Grant head coach Matt Kabza said. “Defensively, offensively, just putting together really professional at bats. And that’s exactly what he did there (in the seventh) in a really high pressure situation, didn’t let the moment get too big.”

Broadfoot followed with a single and after an out, senior Martin Elardo was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Raiton was next and he got hit by a pitch to bring home the first run. CC brought in senior Nico Horner to pitch, but Elliston launched a single that went off the rubber on the mound and high into the air where the Rams had no time to make a play, tying the game at three.

Caron was next and he pushed a single through the infield and into left field, scoring two more runs. Two batters later, Sorensen doubled to the left-center gap, scoring two more and putting Grant ahead 7-3.

“It means everything to have the support of the offense,” Grant starting pitcher Nate Kagen said. “Definitely as a pitcher I feed off that energy, especially knowing that your boys are going to support you no matter if you give up zero runs or eight. It’s everything.”

Central Catholic battle backs

The game was far from over as Central Catholic returned the favor in the top of the sixth.

Sophomore Luke Lucas started with a single, followed by a walk two batters later from Lopez.

Grant made a pitching change to Broadfoot, who walked Emerson but got sophomore Sam Smith to strikeout and get two outs with the bases loaded.

Jones came through for the Rams though with a single up the middle to score two. Ames singled behind him to load the bases once more, and Pachmayr walked to make it 7-6 Grant.

An error by the Generals on Anzellotti’s hard-hit grounder allowed two more runs to score and put the Rams ahead 8-7.

Central Catholic, who had to forfeit two games this season after an incident involving an alleged racist remark and possible hazing within the team, continued to fight all season to get to this point and learn from their mistakes.

“As heightened as the atmosphere was today, if anything this year taught them how to handle and have resiliency in those moments,” Barchus said. “Our guys handled it really well. We’re very young and for a freshman to go out there on the mound in this environment and compete the way he did … Some of the plays the younger guys made, just really proud of the guys.”

Grant went quick in the sixth, but Raiton made quick work of the Rams in the top of the seventh to set up the dramatic finish in the bottom half.

Final scenes

Kagen finished the game with 5.1 innings pitched, allowing five runs, three earned, on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

A student at Catlin Gabel, Kagen played for Grant this year after the Eagles didn’t play varsity baseball. That allowed the senior to come back to his NE Portland roots and suit up alongside guys he grew up playing with.

“I played little league and middle school with all these guys, it’s been just the best experience getting to know them again,” Kagen said. “I feel like this is the first year where I’ve really felt everybody is pulling for one another. It’s been such a pleasure to get to know all these guys.”

“Obviously he’s been electric on the mound for us,” Kabza said of Kagen. “As far as a guy coming into the team and blending in and being a great teammate and celebrating other’s success, he’s a great human being. And a fantastic pitcher as well.”

Grant finished with only five hits as a team, Caron and Sorensen each picking up one of them and posting two RBI each.

On the Central Catholic side, Migaki went 4.1 innings and gave up five runs on two hits with eight strikeouts and no walks, but four hit batters.

Pachmayr was 1-for-2 at the plate with the home run and a sac fly for three RBI. Jones was 1-for-4 with two RBI and Ames was 2-for-3 in his final game as a Ram.

Henry Hammer and Jake Wight, the latter of whom broke their leg during wrestling season and was a question mark to even play, join Ames and Horner as the lone seniors on a Rams squad that put it all on the line the last month and a half.

“Spencer and Nolan, they did a great job, you can see what Spencer means to this group with the way he competes,” Barchus said. “Even when he wasn’t playing well, he was always pushing the other guys to raise the level and raise the expectations.

“The effect Spencer had on this program will be felt, especially for the guys that were on this varsity team, for the remainder of their career.”

Meanwhile for Grant, the hero in Broadfoot hadn’t played baseball since freshman year as he dropped the sport to focus on soccer and play in the Timbers Academy.

Broadfoot helped the Generals boys soccer team make the state title game back in the fall, but said baseball was calling him back to play.

“I decided (Timbers Academy) wasn’t really the right route for me, I wasn’t having fun any more in soccer,” Broadfoot said. “Baseball has been the sport I’ve played since I was little and played with all the juniors since I was six-years-old in little league. Just wanted to have fun in sports again.”

Up next for the Generals, who were state runnerups last season, will be a familiar foe in No. 3 West Linn.

The Lions, who are five-time state champions and won the title three consecutive years from 2022-2024, have proven to be a powerhouse program.

However, Grant did take them down 3-2 earlier this season on March 31.

This time the game will be at West Linn, but the Generals are confident and excited to go prove they are a powerhouse as well.

The game is set for Friday, May 29 at a time still to be determined.

“I’m hyped, I love playing those suburban teams,” Broadfoot said.

“West Linn is a historic, powerhouse program and we’re looking forward to competing with them. It should be another really great high school baseball game,” Kabza said.

“We beat West Linn once, we’ll beat them again,” Kagen said.