CORVALLIS — The Eugene Challengers (44-9) blew out the Post 20 Dallas Dirtbags 10-0 in the third-place play-in game Wednesday night, earning a berth in the AAA American Legion Oregon State Tournament in Portland.
“I love where we’re at right now,” said head coach Kenny Niles. “In fact, I just told the kids, I’m normally a glass-half-empty type of person, but right now, I’m super confident about where we’re at. I think our kids are dialed in. I think we’re going to play with a ton of confidence and go towards the challenge.”
It all began in the second inning when the Challengers broke the game open after a slow first inning. They recorded 4 runs on 5 hits, starting when Eli Crist singled on a line drive to center field. Following, Landon Lea and Grady Hazen singled and Jalen Riddle doubled on a fly ball. Aiden Hibler finished up the explosive inning with another single. From there, the Challengers commanded the rest of the game, recording six more runs in the next three innings. They ended the Dirtbags’ season in the fifth inning.
Overall, Crist went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Lea went 2-for-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Lastly, Hazen went 2-for-2 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs.
No. 18 Eli Crist batting in the second inning. ALL PHOTOS BY CRAIG STROBECK 
No. 24 Aiden Hibler with a base hit scoring the fourth run of the second inning. 
No.8 Landon Lea attempts a bunt in the second inning. 
Lea is waved home by coach Kenny Niles off the double by Jalen Riddle in the second inning.
“The idea was that we try to put the game in motion and try to play fast tonight,” said Niles. “And I usually get pretty nervous about that. But I wasn’t too worried about today, just because our guys were so locked in.”
Niles said that this strategy was also rooted in the context of the Challengers’ season. The Challengers have had a tumultuous season, marked by numerous injuries. At one point during the regular season, the team had six players on the injured reserve list on an 18-player roster. One of the most impactful losses, in particular, was Thurston star Brock Johnson, who had a 427 batting average.
“We were just snake bit with injuries this year and more than I’ve ever seen,” said Niles. “I had never seen a season-ending injury coaching yet. But this year, I mean, we’re talking about broken legs, torn ACLs, and blown-out hamstrings. We still have three starters that are not in the lineup right now, including one of our best overall players that we’ve had in the last 40 years of Challengers baseball — Brock Johnson.”
Niles found himself having to improvise and try to “piece” the team back together throughout league. This had a significant impact on the team’s positioning heading into the state championships. The defending state champion received the third-place play-in seed and had to play against the 8-16 third-place Area 3 team the Dallas Dirtbags.
CRAIG STROBECK / THE CHRONICLE
“We were off running with a 31-1 start and felt like our team coming into this year was going to be as good as we’ve ever been,” said Niles. “The injuries derailed us, and it became really difficult in league and the regular season. We probably had about a 2% chance of making it, and it would have been pretty sad if a 43-9 wouldn’t have made the state tournament, but that’s just the reality of it. The kids just kind of dug in and scrapped and got us to this point.”
CRAIG STROBECK / THE CHRONICLE PHOTO
However, Niles feels more confident going forward. Now that the dog days are over, and they’ve earned the state berth.
“We felt like if we could make it to this point, our roster would get a little healthier, and that’s true,” He said. “If we knew we could get in, we’d be in great shape. From now on, it’s two out of the best three teams, in my opinion, playing. The Portland Barbers and the Medford Mustangs. That’s why we’re excited to play the Barbers on Saturday. We want to play them on night one. I couldn’t be happier about our draw. I couldn’t be happier about our situation. I feel like our kids have really taken the mantra of ‘playing with house money’ because of the situation and where we’re at.”
Niles said the strategy for Saturday’s game against the Barbers will be similar to Wednesday’s game. There will be an emphasis on “running, bunting, and playing fast” due to their limited roster and the competitive level of the Barbers. In addition, he hopes to rely on the strength of the Challengers’ strongest players.
“We’re going to throw our really good Division I Grady Saunders,” He said. “They also have a Division I pitcher for Saturday night. We also know that we’re gonna have to run and bunt, do some of the stuff that the Challengers do. We want to put the game in motion. We want to try to play fast, because we know that we’re not going to sit and hit three-run home runs against the Barbers on Saturday night. We have to do it our way.”
The Challengers will face the Portland Barbers at Joe Etzel Field at 7 p.m. Saturday night.
