EUGENE – The landscape of the Eugene Challengers’ routine post-game huddle looked different this time. As they gathered near the scoreboard, water droplets rolled off the athletes’ uniforms as some were still soaked from the celebratory water dunk. Others trailed behind as they got caught up with interviews and the new spectacle of media presence. And the rest were still facing the warm embrace from their beaming, yet teary-eyed parents.
For the first time in three years, the Eugene Challengers stood triumphant as American Legion state baseball champions. The Class AAA team, composed mostly of players from Springfield and Eugene, beat the Mid Valley Southpaws 2-0 on Wednesday at Swede Johnson Stadium, the site of the state tournament and the Challengers’ home field.
Next up is a trip to the regionals in Billings, Mont., on Aug. 7-11 and then, perhaps, the national tournament in North Carolina.
Thurston and Pleasant Hill athletes excelled during the tournament, including the title game, which started slowly and was scoreless in the top of the third inning. Pleasant Hill’s Caden Richardson then singled and hurried to claim second base. Thurston’s Easton McDonald broke the impasse as he singled in Richardson with the Challengers’ first run.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Thurston standout Grady Saunders led off with a long fly ball that turned into a double. After Eli Crist walked, Peyton Tyner’s hit resulted in Saunders being tagged out, but Crist still scored on the play. Saunders and Tyner each had 1 RBI in the game.
The Challengers clung to their ground with a formidable, error-free defense. Saunders showcased his pitching skills, striking out 11 and allowing only two hits and zero runs over seven innings.
“Grady’s obviously a stud, as you can see,” McDonald said of his Colts teammate. “He goes out there with a great mentality and always gets it done. So having him obviously brings another level of confidence.”
Once the Challengers had secured their win by striking out all three Southpaws batters in the last inning, the entire team sprinted to the pitcher’s mound around Saunders for a triumphal, adrenaline-driven dogpile.
“It’s not just Grady, though, we’ve been on a 15-game winning streak. This team has been rolling – our chemistry is through the roof right now,” McDonald said. “So I had confidence we would win this the entire time.”
The team was ‘hungrier’
There was an air of confidence heading into this year’s tournament, coach Kenny Niles had said last week. He noted that since the Challengers’ crash-and-burn at Billings in their last regionals run, the team was “hungrier,” the coaching more refined, and there was a sense of deeper experience and depth within the players.
Niles earned his second state title trophy with the Challengers, and he asserts that heading into regionals will be different from 2021 – just like the state tournament turned out.
He said the 2021 team had gotten too captivated by the spectacle of it all. After all, it had been nine years since the Challengers had claimed a state title.
“That first one kind of snuck up on us,” Niles said. “Especially since we hadn’t been very competitive in Area 4 for a while. But we had a great ride and had kids that were committed; it was a special run. But yeah, I think we were kind of a bit starry-eyed that first year and took it all in like it was like being at Disneyland. And from there, we got pretty frantic and all of a sudden we’re like, ‘Oh, we didn’t do everything we wanted to do!’ – we didn’t have a plan.”
The Challengers immediately entered the losers’ bracket after their first game in ’21. They were able to fight back and claim third place, which was still Top 24 in the nation.
Niles said that regionals experience transformed the team’s core dynamics. It propelled the team and the coaches to reassess and build upon their learning. Also, after sampling only a small taste of the spotlight and big-league attention, the team craved more. They realized they wanted to achieve the elite level.
Niles said an unexpected result of the previous trip to regionals was greater awareness of the Challengers.
“The loss catapulted us to take bigger strides,” Niles said. “The kids recognized they wanted to play for state and regionals more often. Also, I think they got excited by more coverage from media, such as The Chronicle, which helped the public know there’s a good brand of baseball in the valley.”
Overall, Niles said he’s more confident about achieving success in this run. Especially since the legacy of the Challengers has passed down among families now.
“I think just being in Billings recently, and also having some players that either had brothers or coaches on the team back then, we’ll be a little bit more hungry,” he said.
McDonald shares his coach’s confidence about his team’s future.
“I honestly think this team’s got more than just Billings, Montana, in their pocket,” he said. “I think we can hopefully go out there, ball out, and make it to North Carolina.”
Niles said the regional tournament is a special experience for players.
“We start off with a big banquet,” he said. “At regionals, it’s obvious that the community rallies around these kids so that they can really feel like they’re pro baseball players for a few days. It’s a ton of fun.”
The Challengers will open up with Cheyenne, Wyoming on Aug. 7. From there it’s a double-elimination bracket with eight teams from all over the Pacific Northwest.
Learning Lessons
Before their momentous win this week, the Challengers had endured a long, yet determined season.
According to Niles, this year’s team had started off being “more athletic than other teams they’ve had in the past.” Yet, they still had three main challenges at the beginning of the season: generating more offense, playing faster, and gaining a better arm. Also, he said the team struggled with chemistry early on due to high school graduations and their school teams limiting practice time.
However, by the time they met up with an old semifinalist foe – Salem’s Post 20 Dirtbags on July 17 – they had achieved the team goals. By this time, they were pitching and playing faster with a 35-8 record.
In addition, the team had improved its chemistry. By July 17, the team had played 30-plus games, traveled multiple road trips, and stayed on overnight trips. They had strengthened their teamwork, trust, and camaraderie, Niles said.
Saunders said this aspect of the Challengers is unique and special to him; it vastly differs from his experience in baseball at Thurston.
“We’re together pretty much the whole summer at least six or sometimes seven days a week,” he said. “A little more camaraderie than Thurston, and I think as a team, we just play a little better with each other.”
However, despite the progress, they still had a significant hurdle: the Portland Barbers. Last year, the Challengers ended the season with a 50-8 record and won the Area 4 title, but lost to the Barbers – the Area 2 champs – for the state title. Facing them once again meant everything.
And when game time arrived on July 29, the Challengers were ready and finished with an 11-4 win. Despite the Barbers’ first-inning lead on a three-run double, the Challengers charged back. By the fifth inning, the Challengers were up 7-4. In the end, the Challengers had 10 hits, with Saunders and Crist recording two each.
This year’s state semifinalist, the Roseburg Doc Stewarts, fell 8-2 after the Challengers exploded for a five-run fifth inning.
In the first inning, Saunders delivered a clutch double, plating two runs for Eugene. The game became tied 2-2. Thurston’s Kyle Miller then pitched 2⅓ innings without a hit or a run and struck out all three batters. Then Richardson had two runs on four hits over 1⅔ innings. In the fifth inning, Thurston’s Brock Johnston had an RBI single. Following that, Tyner plated two more runs with a single of his own. In addition, a fielding error brought in an additional two runs. Overall, Saunders had 2 RBIs and high school teammate Brock Johnson had 2 hits and 1 RBI. All this momentum carried into their win against the Southpaws for the state title.
BOB WILLIAMS / THE CHRONICLE: Thurston standouts Easton McDonald and Grady Saunders.
McDonald, nearing the end of his final season with the Challengers, looked back on his career so far.
“I think my first year was really the biggest learning experience and brought me to a new level of baseball,” he said. “Then, my second year was last year where we came up just short. And then, what we were able to accomplish today. So this really means a lot to me. I wanted to do it not just for myself, but for these coaches. I mean, they’ve been great coaches for these past couple of years.”
When asked how he’d remember this Challengers’ achievement during the rest of his high school career at Thurston, Saunders said that instead, he’ll “carry this for the rest of his life.” For Saunders, the lessons he learned beyond performance–such as the value of mental fortitude–were invaluable.
“I definitely learned a lot from the coaches – but I also learned that it’s not all about winning or how you perform. It’s about being gritty and doing everything you can to win,” he said.
Dale Hartley, president of the Eugene Challengers’ board, emphasized Niles’ impact on the team and the organization.
“I think he means everything to this organization,” he said. “Six years ago, we took a leap of faith. When the opportunity presented itself to hire Kenny, there were some questions about whether that was the right decision. But I think the product that we’ve produced over the last six years is proof that we absolutely made the right decision. He is, in my opinion, the best baseball coach in the state of Oregon. And what he brings to the table is more than the coaching ability. It’s the love of these kids and the love of helping them become better young men and baseball players; I’ve never been more proud.”
Check out more action and jubilation images at chronicle1909.com