State baseball roundup: Lincoln picks up first playoff win since 2017, Grant and Central Catholic set for showdown
Editor's note: Find first-round coverage of Portland softball by following the link here.
For the last six postseasons, the story has been the same for Lincoln High School baseball.
Make the first round, but fall short of getting that playoff victory.
Seeded No. 15 and hosting No. 18 Oregon City in the first round of the 6A state tournament Monday, May 25 at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, the Cardinals had a great chance to get off the losing streak.
After giving up a first-inning run to the Pioneers, junior pitcher Jack Aleskus did what he does best and shoved the rest of the way, leading Lincoln to a 3-1 win and its first playoff win since 2017.
“Classic Jack,” Lincoln head coach CJ Watson said. “Pounded the strike zone with all of his pitches. Unbelievable composure and competitiveness. He is a true ace.”
That’s not hyperbole as Aleskus lowered his season ERA to 1.18 in 59.1 IP this season. Against Oregon City, he pitched a complete game with one run allowed on four hits with seven strikeouts and just one walk.
And that one run allowed in the first was erased quickly as the Cardinals got two in the bottom half.
Junior Finley Cunningham led off with a walk and senior Alex Olbeter laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Cunningham to second. Hunter Arana came through in the next at bat with a single up the middle, scoring Cunningham.
After a Grady Wilmot walk, junior Wolfe Roberts was the next clutch one with a single to left, scoring Arana and putting Lincoln up 2-1.
That’s all Aleskus needed as he sat down the next eight Pioneers before giving up a two-out single in the fourth. The next batter lined out.
It was a clean fifth inning and the Cardinals added another run in the bottom half when Arana reached on a dropped-third strike and moved to second on the errant throw to first.
Sophomore Tyler Kim came in to run for Arana and senior Graeme Warner-McGee brought him home with a single to the left side.
The first two OC batters reached in the sixth on a single and a walk, but Aleskus got a groundout and back-to-back Ks to keep the Pioneers off the board.
In the seventh, Aleskus sat the Pioneers down in order with a strikeout, line out and fly out to secure the win and send Lincoln to the second round.
“The win felt great. To be honest, it did feel like a monkey off the back in some regard,” Watson said. “These kids deserve it – they work so hard and love being around each other. Such a great group of guys to be around.”
Lincoln gets another Three Rivers League foe in round two as No. 2 Tualatin took care of business in a 4-1 win over No. 31 Sandy.
The second round matchup is slated for Wednesday, May 27 at Tualatin with a time still to be determined.
Grant and Central Catholic win, face each other next
There will be a new 6A state champion in 2026 thanks to No. 22 Central Catholic going on the road and upsetting No. 11 Sunset, the defending state champions, with a 12-2 win in five innings.
The Rams jumped on the Apollos early, scoring twice in the top of the first when sophomore Sam Smith opened it with a double and later scored on a senior Spencer Ames single to center. Junior Jake Pachmayr singled and sophomore Blake Anzellotti singled to right to plate Ames and go up 2-0.
The second inning was even better as the Rams scored four more runs, starting with another Ames RBI single to score Smith again. Pachmayr singled again and, again, Anzellotti singled, this time plating two runs though. The fourth run came on a single from sophomore Luke Lucas to put the Rams up 6-0 after two innings.
“We’ve been playing better baseball the last week and a half and I think it’s finally hitting its stride at the right time,” Rams head coach Justin Barchus said. “I think that kind of culminated in today with some bats coming alive that haven’t quite come alive yet, but we know there’s a lot in those bats.”
Smith ran into some trouble on the mound in the third with his team up 7-0. A single and walk with one out, followed by a sac bunt, set the Apollos up with runners on second and third.
A single scored both to cut into the Rams lead at 7-2, but Smith got the next batter to pop out.
Neither side scored in the fourth, and then the Rams struck gold again in the fifth with five more runs, all coming with two outs.
CC loaded the bases and Pachmayr came through with a base-clearing double. The Rams loaded the bases again and Lucas singled to score two more runs and put the game on run-rule watch.
Junior Grady Olson and senior Nolan Horner combined to close out the game in the fifth and send the Rams to the second round.
Smith finished the day going 3-for-4 from the plate with four runs scored, along with four innings pitched with two runs allowed on four hits with one strikeout and four walks.
Smith on the season is batting .373 with a 1.090 OPS and 22 stolen bases, along with a 2.06 ERA in 47.2 IP and 66 strikeouts.
“I don’t think a lot of people really understand the pressure that’s on some of these kids to perform when they have all these rankings, but Sam wears it and is a great teammate,” Barchus said. “He is very humble and has humility about him, which I think his teammates respect a ton.
“Credit to him, the offense got some really good swings off, especially knowing they were going to pitch around him a little bit. He got some really good swings off and was kind of the fire starter for us on offense.”
Ames was 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored, Pachmayr was 3-for-4 with three RBI, Anzellotti was 2-for-3 with three RBI and Lucas was 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Up next will be a matchup with No. 6 Grant after the Generals took care of business at home against No. 27 Forest Grove.
Grant got on the board in the first in an electric way with senior Elliot Raiton hitting an inside-the-park home run.
Sophomore Phillip Elliston hit a single in the third that allowed Martin Elardo to score after an error on the throw from the outfield.
The Generals broke the game open in the fourth when junior Orion Scarpine walked with two outs. Elardo doubled to bring home Scarpine and later scored on a Raiton single to left field.
Elliston singled again and Luke Caron hit a hard ground ball that turned into an error and one more run crossed home to make it 5-0 Grant after four.
Senior Jinki Tomita was on the mound dealing once more, giving up only one run in the top of the fifth. He finished with just the one run allowed on four hits with 10 strikeouts to two walks.
Grant added three insurance runs in the sixth when Calvin Sorensen hit an RBI single, then took second on a wild pitch. Sorensen stole third and scored on an error by the Forest Grove catcher. Another error at home allowed Joaquin Goodlow to score later in the inning.
Junior Callum Broadfoot came in to close the game and did so with two groundouts and a strikeout around two walks, sending Grant to the second round for the second consecutive year. The Generals were runnerups last season.
Now the two Portland squads will meet for a spot in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 27 at Grant High with a time still to be determined.
It’s always high intensity between two inner-city squads, but the focus will be on the field for both sides.
“I think that game matters more to the people in the stands than it does the people on the field,” Barchus said. “Our focus is going to stay on executing the small things that got us here. It’s a really good Grant baseball team so we’ll have our hands full. I don’t expect to play a five-inning game on Wednesday.”
More baseball results
No. 28 Ida B. Wells got the day started with an early first pitch down in Eugene against No. 5 Willamette, falling 10-5.
The Wolverines scored eight of their runs in the first three innings, but the Guardians kept fighting.
Junior Grae Wilson hit a solo home run as the second batter of the game to put Wells up 1-0 early.
The Guardians would plate a run each in the third and fourth thanks to a double from Wilson and a single from sophomore Micah Burrell.
Two more runs would come across in the fifth on a single from Wilson, who later was the second run after scoring on a passed ball.
However, the early hole was too deep to climb out of as Wells couldn't score in the final two innings. Wilson finished 3-for-4 with three RBI.
Elsewhere, No. 24 Cleveland saw its seventh-inning rally come up just short at No. 9 Lake Oswego in a 4-2 loss.
Trailing 4-1 going to the top of the seventh, the Warriors loaded the bases with one out thanks to a single from Sam Schaller, an Arlo Copony walk and an Arlo Oetting single.
Freshman Sean Hausman, the starting pitcher, walked to bring home a run to cut it to 4-2. However, junior Felix Amistadi struck out next and sophomore Miles Whipp popped up to end the rally.
The two Arlos combined to go 4-for-5 in the game while Hausman did well on the mound, pitching all six innings and giving up four runs, one earned, on seven hits with two strikeouts and five walks.
Cleveland, in the postseason for the first time since 2018, finished the season 15-11 overall and fourth in the PIL at 10-4.
Down in 2A/1A, the darlings of last year’s postseason came up a little short Monday in No. 15 seed Portland Christian falling 9-8 in the first round.
Making it to the semifinals last season as a No. 19 seed, the Royals were looking for a similar run, but started this postseason off with a home game against No. 18 Oakridge.
The Warriors came out swinging, scoring three runs off junior starter Thomas Cosgrove.
PC got two back in the bottom half though when junior Donovan Endres doubled to left field and later scored when Cosgrove was walked with the bases loaded.
Oakridge added another run in the top of the second, but the Royals scored three times in the bottom half to take a 5-4 lead. Junior Evan Satre singled to center to score one, which was followed by a junior Michael Thurber double to plate two more.
The Warriors wouldn’t go away though, scoring three more in the top of the third to go up 7-5 after three.
Cosgrove got through a clean fourth and the Royals went right back to scoring, starting with a double from Endres to score one run and make it a 7-6 Warriors lead.
Satre singled behind him to score Endres and Cosgrove hit a sac fly with the bases loaded to make it 8-7 PC after four.
Both sides went scoreless in the fifth and the Warriors retook the lead in the sixth with two more runs, going up 9-8.
PC scattered a hit by pitch and a single between three groundouts in the sixth, and a leadoff single from senior Noah Humphrey in the seventh was followed by a groundout, strikeout and pop out to end the game.
It’s a tough finish for a Royals squad who closes the season 14-14, but there’s a lot of talent set to return next year to keep the momentum the program has built alive.
