Undefeated Jesuit Crusaders have the talent — and the drive — to be last team standing in Oregon 6A softball

“We’re hoping to get state — this is our year.” And after knocking off fellow top contender West Linn, the Crusaders might be the team to beat in 2025.

The Crusaders celebrate after the final out of their 6-5 win over West Linn in a battle of unbeaten teams at Jesuit High School. / Dan Brood

BEAVERTON — There’s no doubt about it: The Jesuit softball team likes to have fun.

Smiling, cheering, yelling — the Crusaders are doing it all.

But what is really fun is winning. Jesuit is doing that as well.

In fact, so far in the 2025 season, all Jesuit has done is win — and the Crusaders are having a great time doing all of that winning.

“Having fun is one of the most important things in the game for us,” Jesuit senior outfielder Berkleigh Tuck said after the Crusaders’ dramatic 6-5 win over West Linn in a Jesuit/Mountainside Tournament game played last week under sunny skies at Jesuit High School. “Having a good attitude is really important when it comes to having success.”

Jesuit junior Makena Boynay fires a pitch to the plate during the Crusaders’ game against West Linn at the Jesuit/Mountainside Tournament. / Dan Brood

“It’s really big. Our main goal is to have as much fun as possible,” said Jesuit junior Makena Boynay, who was the winning pitcher against the Lions. “No matter how hard things may seem, just go out there and have fun.”

With the victory over West Linn — which, like Jesuit, entered with a perfect record — the Crusaders improved to 7-0.

“Of course, that’s fun and motivating. Everyone wants to be undefeated. Everyone loves to win, so we’re hoping to keep this streak going,” said Jesuit senior third baseman Sam Blachly, who belted a three-run homer in the seventh inning. “All of us, we’ve been really focused since last summer. We’ve put in our own work, on our own time, and we’ve come together as a team and just really bonded. We play team softball.”

“It’s really special to us. We haven’t had this good of a start in a while,” Boynay said. “It’s boosting our confidence and how we feel as a team. Yeah, we’re having a really good time with it.”

“We just want to keep it going and stay strong throughout the whole season,” said Jesuit senior first baseman Riley Smith, who also had a home run in the win over West Linn.

Jesuit players meet senior Riley Smith (8) at home plate after her solo home run in the fifth inning of the Crusaders’ game against West Linn. / Dan Brood

Not only has Jesuit got off to a perfect start to the season, but most of the Crusaders’ wins have come in closely contested games against quality opponents.

“It’s nice to be undefeated. I play a tough preseason,” Jesuit coach Jim Speciale said. “I don’t want to play a cupcake schedule. I want my kids to be challenged because that makes us tougher and helps get us ready for the playoffs.”

Of the Crusaders’ seven wins, three have been by two runs and two by one run, including the thriller with West Linn.

“It’s our energy and having fun,” Smith said of the key for Jesuit emerging victorious in close contests. “We always have fun together and keep the energy going.”

“When it’s a tight game, you’ve got to keep the energy up,” Tuck said. “There’s a lot more motivation to do your best.”

“We’re getting key hits in key spots, playing defense when we need to, making spectacular catches, and they all believe in each other, and they believe in what we’re all about,” Speciale said. “We’ve been preaching that all year long with this group, hoping that everyone will lead by example.”

Jesuit coach Jim Speciale heads back to the third base coaches box after a timeout in the Crusaders’ game against West Linn. / Dan Brood

“In our preseason, our coach likes us to face tough teams to get us ready,” Blachly said. “Our pitching (with Boynay and junior Aubrey Rhodes) has been really strong, and our team hitting has been very good. We’ve been focusing on getting solid, hard hits, rather than just trying to hit it over the fence.”

Jesuit has been getting contributions from players up and down the lineup.

“We have a lot more poise than we’ve had the past couple of years,” Speciale said. “The last couple years, we may have folded in a game like this (the West Linn game), but this team is playing 14-strong. Every kid on this team has something to do, and they’re all doing it.”

The offensive production has been strong throughout the order.

The speedy Tuck, batting in the leadoff spot, is unofficially hitting .417 with a double, seven runs and five stolen bases. Sophomore Mason Rethwith has scored six runs out of the No. 2 spot. Junior Olivia Hildreth, batting third, is hitting .462 with three doubles, a triple, a home run, eight runs and 11 RBIs.

Jesuit junior catcher Olivia Hildreth gets under a foul popup during the Crusaders’ 6-5 victory against West Linn. / Dan Brood

Blachly has a double, a triple, two home runs and eight RBIs out of the cleanup spot. Freshman Liz Jacobs and Smith are in the next two spots.

In the circle, Boynay has four wins and Rhodes, who also plays at shortstop, has three.

“We’ve really been focusing on playing as a team this year,” Blachly said. “There’s lots of energy.”

The Crusaders likely needed all the energy they could muster in the showdown with West Linn, which entered 3-0 and having outscored opponents 31-1.

“That was extra motivation,” Boynay said. “We really wanted to beat them. They wanted to beat us. We had a really good time.”

Jesuit, the designated visiting team, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth when Smith belted a solo home run to right-center field. The Lions tied the score in the bottom of the frame on a leadoff home run by senior Meg Allen.

Jesuit took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth. Tuck reached on a one-out infield single, moved to second on a single by Rethwill and scored on a West Linn error. But again, the Lions responded, this time on a solo home run by junior Piper Ruthrauff, and it was 2-2 after five innings.

The score was still tied going to the seventh inning, when the international tiebreaker was put into effect. Sophomore Selah Greene, who started the inning on second base, scored on a one-out single by Tuck, giving Jesuit a 3-2 lead. Three batters later, Blachly hit a three-run homer to center field, making it 6-2.

Jesuit senior Sam Blachly smiles as she circles the bases after her three-run, seventh-inning home run in the Crusaders’ 6-5 win over West Linn. / Dan Brood

“That was awesome,” said Blachly, who hit a two-run homer earlier in the day in a 3-2 win over Tualatin. “Two strikes, I was just looking, I was just like, ‘Well, I’m going to swing hard if it’s there.’”

Jesuit took the four-run lead to the bottom of the seventh, but the dramatics weren’t over yet. West Linn junior Emily Sakys hit a three-run homer to left field, trimming the lead to 6-5 with no outs in the inning.

With two outs and a runner on first, Lions junior Adison Johnston hit a line drive straight at Boynay. The ball appeared to deflect off the pitcher’s arm, but Boynay quickly grabbed the ball off the turf and threw to Smith at first for the final out.

“It was a very tight situation, and I knew I had to get the last out however I can,” Boynay said. “I don’t even remember pitching the ball; it just came right back to me, so it was like, ‘OK, just go one (first base).’ It hurt, but I got the out anyway.”

After the play, the Crusaders got to celebrate another close win against another strong opponent.

“That’s a good West Linn team. And, you know, Jesuit against West Linn in every sport is hard,” Speciale said. “A lot of respect for them. I picked them No. 1 when the polls first game out. They’ve got the talent.”

Jesuit seems to have the energy and the determination.

“It’s a little scary, but you have to come in with no fear,” Tuck said. “No matter what happens, you have to go 100 percent.”

Jesuit senior Berkleigh Tuck yells over at the Crusaders’ dugout as she stands on second base during the Crusaders’ game with West Linn. / Dan Brood

“It was good,” Smith said. “We had a lot of energy that got us through the game, and it was really nice to see the girls out there fighting.”

The Crusaders also say it’s games like the West Linn contest that will help them in a big way down the road this season — all the while, of course, having as much fun as they can.

“We’ve faced a lot of tough teams, just like (West Linn). So, we’re going to build up more on that,” Boynay said. “We want to have fun and go as far as we can. This is the best lineup we’ve had in a while, and I think we’re going to make it far.”

“We’re going to keep pushing, keep going, try our best, 100 percent, and have fun,” Tuck said. “We just want to go really far in the playoffs and do our absolute best and end the year on a good note.”

“We’re hoping to go very far in the playoffs,” said Blachly, who turned a key 5-3 double play from her third base spot in the win over West Linn. “We’re hoping to get state — this is our year. That’s our goal. I want to go out with a bang.”

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