Oregon City loses 6A softball title game on obstruction call, but Pioneers all smiles when reflecting on big picture

“The two years I’ve been with my team, we’ve been to the playoffs and to the state championship each year, and that’s been pretty cool.”

By Dan Brood 

Up near the top of the grandstands at the University of Oregon’s Jane Sanders Stadium, members of the Oregon City softball team were gathered along with friends, schoolmates and family. 

The Pioneers had just lost 1-0, in very heartbreaking fashion, to Sheldon in Saturday’s nail-biting Class 6A state championship game. 

There were hugs and plenty of tears. 

But amid all of the consolations, and all of those tears, Allyson Nordling got a smile on her face.

Nordling, the Pioneers’ second baseman, and one of three seniors on the roster, had been through this before, along with many of her teammates. Just a year ago, in the 2022 Class 6A title tilt, Oregon City was edged 1-0 by Tigard in a 10-inning thriller.

Despite coming so, so close to winning the championship two years in row, only to come up just barely short each time, Nordling couldn’t help but smile when looking back on her past two high school softball seasons.

“My high school (softball experience) wasn’t the same as what everyone else had,” she said. “My freshman year, we had tryouts, and that was it. My sophomore year, we didn’t have playoffs. So, the two years I’ve been with my team, we’ve been to the playoffs and to the state championship each year, and that’s been pretty cool.”

It sure is.

Nordling, like many other high school athletes, didn’t get to enjoy four full years of competition because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her freshman season, in 2020, was totally wiped away by the pandemic. In 2021, Nordling’s sophomore season, teams in Oregon played just a revised, shortened season, with no postseason.

But it would be hard to argue that any Class 6A softball team in the state rebounded from the pandemic disappointment better than the Pioneers. In the past two seasons, Oregon City had an overall record of 49-12 and played in back-to-back state championship games.

After the 2022 state runner-up finish, the Pioneers seemed to be on a mission this season. They went 23-3 in the regular season, including a 13-1 first-place record in Three Rivers League play.

Oregon City opened the Class 6A state playoffs with a 10-0 win over Sprague. The Pioneers tipped Three Rivers League rival Lakeridge 6-5 in the second round and bested Southridge 3-1 in the quarterfinals. That put Oregon City in the semifinals, where, with a chance to earn a return trip to the championship game, they played a powerful South Medford squad in front of an overflow crowd at Oregon City High School.

It was in that game that the Pioneers seemed to rely on their determination and their ability to shine under pressure, coming away with an exciting 2-1 victory. Oregon City got a clutch two-out, two-run single by sophomore Chloe Stromme in the fourth inning. Pioneers senior shortstop Gina Allen ended the game when, with the tying run on second base, she made a spectacular leaping catch of a line drive, reaching back behind her head to snag the ball.

Junior pitcher Lily Riley had another standout performance in the victory, giving up one run on four hits while striking out seven and walking one.

Coming off that game, Oregon City was ready to take on top-seeded Sheldon in Saturday’s championship contest.

“We were really excited going into it,” Nordling said. “We weren’t as nervous going into it because we had been here before and knew what to expect.”

“We came into the game really focused,” Riley said. “We had good energy, and we were just really fired up to play today.”

It showed.

Oregon City was aggressive at the plate against Sheldon powerhouse pitcher Payton Burnham. Allen showed that in the first inning, ripping a first-pitch single for the first hit of the game. Four of the Pioneers’ five hits came on first-pitch swings.

Oregon City was also shining on defense. Allen, from her shortstop position, made a running catch in shallow left field, and she made a sparkling play on a ground ball up the middle. Nordling, at second base, made a running catch of a fly ball in foul territory, and she made a reaching catch of a liner toward right field. Junior center fielder Chloe Grimmer showed off her range in the sixth inning, making catches for all three outs in the frame.

And then there was Riley.

The Oregon City pitcher was perfect through six innings, not allowing a baserunner while having nine strikeouts to that point.

“I felt really good out there,” she said.

The Pioneers had their best scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth. Senior Lily Castor hit a first-pitch ground single to center field with two outs in the inning. Allen then hit a squibber to the right side of the field, and, diving headfirst and straight out to the base, she was able to beat Sheldon first baseman Ashlyn Martin to the bag for an infield single, with Castor moving to third base on the hit.

Nordling came up, and she put the ball in play against Burnham, who had 15 strikeouts to that point, but Sheldon second baseman Kylee Resides fielded the grounder and make a throw to first to end the inning.

“It was really close. When we had runners on first and third, I felt the pressure,” Nordling said. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to get a base hit.’ I tried my best. I haven’t been hitting well off of Payton this game. I knew what she was going to throw, but she’s really good. I knew what to expect, and I tried my best, but it doesn’t always happen that way.”

In the bottom of the seventh, with the game still scoreless, Sheldon got its first baserunner of the game when junior Brooke Peterson, leading off the inning, was hit by a pitch. One out later, with Peterson still on first, Oregon City came up with what looked to be an amazing double play to get out of the inning and send the game to extra frames.

But the Pioneers’ celebration was short-lived, as Oregon City was called for obstruction as Peterson rounded third base and headed home on the play. She was awarded home, and Sheldon started celebrating a 1-0 victory.

“I think that everyone is just shook up right now by a call that we don’t think should have happened,” Nordling said. “We were ready to go. We were ready to do whatever it takes to take them down. We couldn’t quite find the bats at the same time, and when we did, we got really close. We were really confident when we thought we were going to the eighth inning. We were ready to knock it down.”

Despite not getting that chance to do that in extra innings, it’s hard to take away anything from what the Oregon City team and players accomplished this season.

Riley, who was named the Three Rivers League pitcher of the year, had an earned-run average of 0.93 for the season with 220 strikeouts and 30 walks while allowing just 67 hits in 135 and one-third innings. Riley also stepped up in the Pioneers’ two state championship games. In those two contests, in 15 and one-third innings, she didn’t give up any earned runs on three hits while striking out 23 and walking one.

Nordling had a big season at the plate, with team-best totals of eight home runs and 42 RBIs.

Nordling is one of three key seniors, along with Allen and Castor, that Oregon City will lose to graduation. But she still sees big things ahead for the Pioneers.

“I’m graduating, so I won’t be here, but I know that with the girls we’ll have coming back, we can be here again,” said Nordling, who will play college softball at Fairmont State University in West Virginia. “I have full confidence in that.”

“That would be the goal next year,” Riley said of a third consecutive trip to the state championship game. “We’re losing some vital players. That was the hard part about today.”