As spring comes to an end, and summer is closing in, some things end, but that creates an opening for new goals and new aspirations.
Last week, the baseball team made the trip over to play 6 seeded Central, where they fell 5-3.
Leading up to the first round showdown, Wilsonville was 18-9, coming off a two-game series win against Canby, where they eventually placed second in the Northwest Oregon Conference behind La Salle. Wilsonville got placed the #11 seed and drew a tough matchup against an underseeded 6 seed Central who holds two top 5 players in the 2027 class in Joe Mendazona and JT Girod.
Senior Colby Kosderka shares his thoughts on how the game went, “It was frustrating. Whenever we would get something going, we just couldn’t convert.” Wilsonville left 6 in scoring position throughout the game, and only got 1 around to come into score when sophomore outfielder Beau Johnson singled to score Carson Zellick’s double in the fifth inning. In the seventh, junior Micheal Gatlin reached on an error, following that junior middle-infielder Evan Eagle towered a two-run homerun down the left field line, but it wasn’t enough.
“Shotout JT. (JT Girod started the game on the mound for Central and went the whole game, striking out 12, walking none, and only giving up one earned run). “He shoved it, and we didn’t put up enough quality at bats to beat him.” Kosderka adds, “We ran into a really good team today, and they proved it. They’re going onto the next round, we’re not.”
Going into next season, the bright side is Wilsonville is only losing four seniors and returning fourteen assuming no one leaves.
Upcoming senior Gabriel Cruz who earned a first team outfield NWOC honor, shares his thoughts on what he looks forward to next season. “We got a taste of what playing with each other looks like, and that’s gonna be a big advantage to us next year. It didn’t feel good to lose the first round, and I don’t want to feel that feeling again.”
Wilsonville is projected to be a top 10 5a team again next year, with the fourteen returning plus that.