Second no more! After string of runner-up finishes, Kennedy is finally top dog thanks to 10-run rout in 2A/1A Oregon baseball final

“We had that stuck in our heads, coming in second all the time. We all know how it feels to be on the other side. Getting this one just felt that much better.”

By René Ferrán | Photos by Dan Brood 

KEIZER — The Kennedy baseball program takes the concept of a team being one big family to another level.

In the Trojans’ case, a championship level.

The Trojans boast three sets of cousins who comprise nearly half the roster, and several played critical roles Friday in lifting Kennedy to the Class 2A/1A baseball state title with an 11-1 victory over Umpqua Valley Christian at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.

“Our bond is strong,” said junior catcher Charlie Beyer, one of four Beyer cousins on the team. “And it just carried over onto this team.”

Many of these same players also were on the football team that reached the 2A state final in November, losing to Coquille 38-28.

“We had that stuck in our heads, coming in second all the time,” said senior shortstop Riley Cantu, who also played on the runner-up football team in 2019. “We all know how it feels to be on the other side. Getting this one just felt that much better.”

Cantu was also the lone remaining member of Kennedy’s 2019 baseball team that lost to Umpqua Valley Christian 10-5 in nine innings — the last time the OSAA baseball championships were played before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“Oh yeah, I definitely had flashbacks from that game,” said Cantu, who scored three runs Friday. “We battled hard, and they just came out on top that day. So, I just wanted to play that much harder this game, and we 10-runned them, so our hard work obviously paid off.”

Cantu was part of Kennedy’s opening salvo, working a walk against Monarchs starter Kevin Shaver and scoring the second of the Trojans’ three runs in the first inning.

“That was our game plan, coming out aggressive and swinging it,” Beyer said. “We knew our defense was good enough, so we just had to get out to a good lead.”

The Trojans (27-3) tacked on three more runs in the third, taking advantage of two errors to build a 6-0 lead.

“We just played tight and didn’t compete the way we’ve been competing,” said Monarchs coach Dave York, whose team had a 19-game win streak snapped in ending its season 25-5. “The moment got a little big for some of our young guys, and we just played really hesitant and made some mental mistakes that we hadn’t been making.”

The early barrage was more than enough for junior Andrew Cuff, who allowed three hits in five innings, striking out six and walking two.

Junior Ethan Kleinschmidt (2 for 3, RBI) closed the win — the first title game shortened by the 10-run rule, which the OSAA adopted for postseason play this spring — with a 1-2-3 sixth as his cousin Brody took over for him in center field.

With Cantu one of just three seniors on the team — and Beyer noting that the Trojans will have two brothers joining their cousins on the roster next spring — don’t be surprised if Round 3 between these programs happens again next June.

“This is our sixth time in this game,” said York, who also loses just three seniors from his squad. “We’ve won three and now lost three, but every team that I’ve had that lost, the next year, they came back with a lot more resilience and just fought like heck to get back here.

“That’s what I want this group to understand. They’ve been incredible and worked hard. There’s just another jump that these young guys need to take, and I think they can take it.”