THURSTON – The Crater Comets may have been the No. 1 team in the state before their Saturday doubleheader against the Thurston Colts, but the Colts had won 15 games in a row over the visitors from Central Point.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Comets were one out away from breaking their losing streak, which dated back to 2018. With two outs, no one on base and a four-run lead, the Comets should have cruised to victory.
However, a controversial safe call and a fortuitous bounce off the knob of Jackson Lane’s bat gave the Colts a sliver of hope. Comets starter Alex Johnson reached his pitch limit of 110, so reliever Zach Harrington entered the game. Colts sophomore Levi Woodman worked a walk to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate.
Luke Blair smashed a double down the left-field line to score two runs and put himself, still the tying run, in scoring position. Blair was the only Colt with more than one hit, going 3-for-4 on the day.
Harrington was yanked unceremoniously, with senior Morgan Austin replacing him. On Austin’s first pitch, he hit Colts sophomore Brody Corgain to bring the Colts’ most dangerous hitter, Grady Saunders, to the plate with the bases loaded. Saunders, who will play at powerhouse Oregon State next season, is hitting .451 on the season, with a team-leading 21 RBI. In league play, he has stepped that up even further, with a .488 average and 18 RBI in just 12 games.
“When we started that seventh (inning), I’m thinking, ‘Somehow, if we can get back to the top of the order and give Grady a shot to win this game, who’s not going to take that opportunity?’” Colts head coach Dennis Minium said.
Saunders fouled off multiple tough pitches, but dug himself a hole and faced an 0-2 count. When he finally hit the ball into fair territory, it was high and far, but straight at Comets center fielder Carson Noce for the final out of the game.
The Colts also dropped the second game of the doubleheader, 7-4, to give the Comets the series win. In that game, Saunders bounced back with a 2-for-4 outing, and sophomore Carlin Crutcher had a home run, a double and 2 RBI, but the Comets’ seven runs in the first three innings were too much.
Plenty to learn
Minium’s team, which had a 69-game Midwestern League winning streak before this season, has fallen victim to its inexperience over the course of the season. The Colts are relying heavily on multiple sophomores, and even some of the upperclassmen on this year’s squad had to wait their turn behind more established players in past years. The Colts’ 10 losses this season are the program’s most since 2016, which says more about the success they have had in prior years than it does about this year’s squad.
Early deficits and preventable mistakes in big moments are hallmarks of a team without significant experience, and the Colts have fallen victim to both. In Saturday’s first game, a balk scored the Comets’ first run and the third and fourth only crossed the plate because of an error with two outs in the second inning.
Still, the potential for the Colts is sky-high when they put it all together. In Tuesday’s series opener against the Comets, the Colts won 4-2 in extra innings thanks to clutch situational hitting by Lane, Parker Edwards, Dean Knowles and Woodman. That contrasts starkly with Saturday’s loss by the same scoreline, in which the Colts stranded at least two baserunners in five of seven innings.
Reason for hope
In the victory, Minium felt his team put all three phases of pitching, hitting, and fielding together.
The Colts’ resume includes four victories over top-15 teams in Class 5A, and a victory over No. 6 in Class 6A Sheldon. The Colts’ final two series afford them opportunities to jump into a top-three place in the Midwestern League, which would guarantee a state playoff bid. Having won two of the last three state titles and with an ace like Saunders, who was the 5A pitcher of the year two years ago and co-player of the year last season, the Colts are a draw that no one in 5A would look forward to.
