West Linn baseball rallies past Newberg 8-3
Published 9:48 pm Monday, May 26, 2025
There were some highlights, some low points and some challenges for the West Linn baseball team in its 2025 Class 6A state playoff opener.
But most importantly, there was also a win, with the second-ranked Lions rallying late to beat the No. 31 Tigers 8-3 at West Linn High School on Monday, May 26.
After leading 3-0 through five innings, the Lions saw Newberg break through to tie the contest 3-3 in the top of the sixth. West Linn hardly blinked, however, rallying for five runs in the bottom of the frame to pull away.
“(I wasn’t) nervous, but that definitely woke us up,” said West Linn senior center fielder Danny Wideman, who went 2 for 3 at the plate with a double, a triple, four RBIs and one run scored. “But (Carson) Boyer got us going with a hit to take away their momentum and I was happy to help contribute at the end.”
“We as a team have had resilience all year,” said Lion junior second baseman Hank Curdy, who went 3 for 3 with a double, one run and one RBI. “We’ve been through slumps, which happens in baseball, but I’m so glad that we played like we can in that sixth inning.”
With the win, the Three Rivers League-champion Lions’ fourth straight, West Linn improved to 23-5 overall. Next up, the Lions – the three-time reigning state champions – will host No. 18 South Medford in the second playoff round at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 29. The Panthers (16-11 overall after placing fifth in the Southwest Conference) earned their berth in the second round by beating No. 15 Ida B. Wells 3-2 on Monday.
Newberg, meanwhile, lost for the third straight time and ended its year at 13-14 overall after finishing fifth in the Pacific Conference.
With Boyer keeping Newberg at bay early – he faced the minimum of Tiger batters through four innings – West Linn took a 2-0 lead in the second when Wideman doubled down the third baseline to score both junior Ryan Hemsley and sophomore Sloan Baker.
The Lions made it 3-0 in the fourth when Hemsley tripled to center and scored on Baker’s sacrifice. But Newberg scored three times in the fifth to tie the contest, getting a three-run homer to left field by senior Ethan Johnson.
West Linn came back to win the game in its next at-bat, however, scoring five times in the sixth on Wideman’s two-run triple, Curdy’s RBI single and junior Caden Klouda’s two-run homer to center.
“We as a team are used to challenges. We’re used to tight ball games,” Curdy said. “I had so much confidence in our squad that I knew we were not going to lose. We just had to relax and play how we know how to play.”
“This team has a lot of fight and we’ve played in tough games before so we know it’s win or go home,” Wideman said. “We have to play every game like it’s our last. (It’s) nice to get the first one out the way, but we have to take it one game at a time.”
For the game, Klouda was 1 for 4 with a homer, one run and two RBIs, while Boyer pitched 5-2/3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and three walks while striking out seven.
