3A Playoff Roundup: Trio of teams playing for softball title

Pirates, Tigers, Dawgs playoff bound

Three Yamhill County softball teams have secured their placement in the 3A State Championship tournament.

A trio of locals secured automatic tournament berths with No. 3 Yamhill Carlton (23-3, 15-1), No. 4 Dayton (21-5, 14-2) and No. 16 Willamina/Sheridan (12-11, 10-6) all placed in the top four of Special District 3. The Tigers won their league for the first time since 2021, with their only district loss against Dayton on April 6.

The Pirates finished second while the Bulldogs placed fourth behind No. 6 Scio (21-5, 13-3).

With their respective No. 3 and No. 4 rankings, YC and Dayton will host each of their first two playoff games, beginning with round two of play on Wednesday. At No. 16, the Bulldogs will host  No. 17-seeded Pleasant Hill (15-9, 10-5) on Monday for the right to play No. 1 Vale (25-0) on Wednesday.

YC will face off against the winner of No. 19 Lakeview/Paisley and No.14 Valley Catholic, while Dayton will host the victor of No. 20 Brookings-Harbor and No.13
Warrenton.

The only scenario where YC and Dayton would meet again would be in the 3A State Championship game on June 5 at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene. Each would have to topple the top-two-ranked teams on the road in the semifinals to do so.

Tigers boys volleyball falls in first round

Yamhill Carlton’s No. 12-seeded boys volleyball team faced No. 5 Junction City in the first round of the Oregon School Activities Association’s first sanctioned tournament on Wednesday, falling 3-2 in five sets.

It was Tigers versus Tigers, with YC taking the first set 25-21.

“We basically played ourselves,” YC Coach Jen Harris said regarding the game’s similar stat lines.

“It was a great game, the best they’ve ever played,” Harris added. “Junction City was a good team and it was very close. The team were very evenly matched, it felt like it could have been anyone’s game. We just couldn’t manage the win.”

Junction City took set two 25-15 and set three 25-18. YC responded with a 25-23 win in set four before Junction City closed out the final set with a 15-11 win.

The opposing Tigers had no answer for YC’s sophomore middle blocker Dylan Thielke, whom Junction City Head Coach Jackie Petersen admitted they had no answer for.

“(Petersen) said we were the best team they’ve played,” Harris said

Junction City will face No. 4 Westside Christian, whom the Tigers claimed as their final win of the regular season during the Ranger Rally Tournament at Estacada High School on Saturday.

YC ended their second season as a program with an overall record of 9-10 and went 5-2 in 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 2.

YC baseball falls short of playoffs

The Tigers’ No. 20-ranked baseball team (13-11, 8-6) fell jus short of earning one of five at-large bids to the 3A State Championship tournament.

YC finished fourth in Special District 3 and ended No. 27 Dayton’s playoff dreams with an 11-5 victory on May 11. But were not favored by final the rankings.

Both YC and No. 21 Pleasant Hill were passed over by No. 22 Banks, who received the final postseason bid as the third and final automatic qualifier from Special District 1.