Regis baseball playoffs
By: Harper Stoops
On May 22, 2024, the Regis Rams faced off against the Culver Bulldogs in the second round of the 2A/1A State Playoffs. Culver, who had been awarded the 13 seed in the playoffs, beat Myrtle Point 2-0 that Tuesday in order to secure this second-round matchup. The interesting thing about these two teams was that they both came from Special District 3 and had gone 1 and 2 in the final league standings with Regis on top and Culver as the runner-up for the league title. The last time these teams faced off was at the beginning of league play with the Rams sweeping the Bulldogs in a three-game series. Culver was looking to knock Regis out of the running for the state title after not being able to put up a single run against them in the regular season. Starting pitching for the Rams would be Max Eaton and for the Bulldogs it was Aiden Guest taking the mound.
The game was off to a quick start with Max Eaton shutting down the Culver offense with a 1 2 3 first inning. Aiden Guest also took care of business matching Eaton’s performance the half-inning prior with the Ram’s first three hitters going down easy. The game went on quickly with no one being able to cash in on scoring opportunities. This seemed to change in the 5th inning, however when Culver was threatening with runners on first and third with only one out. The tide of the game changed with one swing of the bat as the ball was smoked right up the middle and Max Eaton made a spectacular grab, spearing the line drive and then tossing the ball to first baseman Luke Castillo to double off the runner and get out of the inning. Finally, after five innings of no score, the Rams pulled through as Luke Castillo hit a double down the left field line to drive in Kollin Schumacher and give Regis the 1-0 lead that they held on to through the final half inning to secure the win.
The Ram’s victory resulted in them receiving a quarterfinal spot against the North Douglas Warriors who beat the 5 seed Reedsport Brave 6-5 earlier that same day. The game will be on May 23 at Regis High School. The Rams hope to continue their season and make a run for the state title, trying to win their first state title in baseball since 2001.