Like brothers who have shared life’s pleasures and pitfalls; like sons to the men they have played for and aspire to emulate; to the people they have touched and who have moved them, Taft High baseball stars Caleb King, Josh Salsbery and Jack Stempel are like family.
Any concerns that “Taft got the shaft” would become the battle cry throughout Lincoln City were quelled late Saturday with the announcement that the top-ranked Tigers have been seeded No 1 in next week’s Class 3A State baseball championships.
The Taft High softball team was likely relegated to at-large status and a road game in next week’s State tournament following an 8-0 West Valley League playoff loss Friday to Amity at Dayton High school.
No. 1-ranked Taft High, playing night after night with a target on its back, got struck in the bull’s eye Thursday in squandering an eight-run, seventh-inning lead to fall 9-8 to Santiam Christian in a league home playoff loss that broke the Tigers’ 16-game winning streak.
In keeping with tradition, it will take a tent or a hammock instead of a cape to cover all the contributing players on the Taft High softball team by the time the Tigers conclude play Friday in the West Valley League playoffs.
Senior Preston Nightingale, sophomores Kaden Wright, Ella Knott and Autumn Ellis and freshman Jordyn Ramsey will open competition Thursday in the two-day Class 3A OSAA State Track and Field Championships in Eugene.
The No.-1 ranked Taft High baseball team posted some gaudy numbers this season – the most important, of course, being 12-0, the team’s perfect record in winning the West Valley League regular-season championship.
Scio High assumed the state’s No. 1 ranking in the Class 3A softball ranks Tuesday after defeating playoff-bound Taft 14-4 to conclude the regular season.
The Taft High girls golf team made the biggest march up the leaderboard Tuesday to finish sixth behind champion St. Mary’s in the OSAA Class 4A/3A/2A/1A State Girls Golf Championships in Banks.
