3A softball poised to host playoffs
Dayton, YC, Willamina top of the rankings
Dayton, Yamhill Carlton and Willamina softball should host playoff games next Wednesday as they sit in the top nine of 3A rankings.
Rankings were frozen at 10 p.m. Thursday night, but the playoff bracket were not released as of publication deadline.
On Thursday morning Dayton (23-3, 16-3) sat No. 2 in 3A with YC (19-7, 15-3) in third and Willamina (18-6, 12-6) at sixth.
PacWest opponent Scio (24-1, 17-1) and defending state champions reigns in first place in 3A.
Amity (12-12, 10-8) should also get a state at large bid as the Warriors sit at 16th in 3A.
Teams ranked 13-20 will compete in round one of the playoffs on Monday, May 26, while the top 12 teams receive a bye and automatically advance to round two.
On Wednesday the Dayton Pirates fell to 4A Astoria 3-2, snapping their 15-game winning streak.
“We had a girl on second in the seventh, but couldn’t get her across to home plate to tie,”
Dayton head coach Frank Baumholtz said.
“We pitched well and had good defense, but didn’t hit as well as I would have liked,” he said. “At the playoffs we’ve gotta execute in a situation like that.”
YC played Astoria Thursday night at Oregon State University on Kelly Field as a final tune-up before playoffs.
The Pirates have gone 1-1 against Scio, falling 2-1 at their first meeting and then winning 3-1 on May 5.
Dayton also split the league bill against YC, falling 7-5 on April 4, but winning 8-7 on April 30.
Willamina closed out league play on May 16 with a 11-1 victory over Amity.
Baumholtz said the key to Dayton success will be three big things, pitchers cutting off walks, no defensive errors and attacking early at the plate.
“Our approach all along has been to set the tone and play our game,” he said. “We gotta hit hittable pitches early in the count, pitch ahead in the count, play fast and don’t play down to another team, but play our game.”
All season the Pirates have treated matchups against Scio, YC and Willamina as playoff games, so Baumholtz feels the team is ready for a state run.
“The girls already know what to do, which tone to set and they are excited,” he said.
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