Crater sits in remarkable position despite .500 baseball record

Published 2:42 pm Wednesday, May 7, 2025

By KRIS HENRY / Rogue Valley Times

Comets hold down No. 7 spot in Class 5A state power rankings entering Friday doubleheader against Eagle Point

Crater’s baseball program has had an ability to stick out among the rest, due in large part to the fostered tenacity that has developed over the years, but this season might take the cake.

It may not be the greatest Class 5A baseball heist in state history, but Crater has remarkably put itself in the driver’s seat for a lofty state playoff seed despite a .500 overall record and third-place standing in the Midwestern League.

It’s the kind of situation that makes one shake their head — whether you’re involved in the program or not this spring — because the Comets find themselves in position to even host a first-round contest despite carrying only nine wins in 18 games with a No. 7 tag currently in the state power rankings.

“It’s funny, I keep looking at it going, ’What’s going on here?’” Crater head coach Jay Campbell said Tuesday night, “but it’s all kind of worked out for us. It seems like we’re kind of hovering around that six, seven, eight, nine area, so you never know.”

Crater second baseman Morgan Austin turns a double play against Eagle Point Tuesday. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

For comparison sake, Mid-Willamette Conference-leading Corvallis sits in the No. 8 spot with a 16-4 overall record as of Wednesday, and the average win-loss record for teams in the Nos. 1-6 spots is 16-3 (97-18 combined). Sixteen teams advance to the 5A state playoffs.

“We’ll see what happens,” Campbell said of his team’s playoff potential. “I can never figure out this whole RPI stuff, but it seems to be that we’ve been able to put ourselves in a pretty good spot right now. We’ve just got to take care of business and see what happens.”

“We’ve got a good team makeup,” he added. “It’s hard to say where we’re going to be in three weeks, but I like where we’re at right now. Anytime you get to the playoffs, anything can happen, but we’re a long way from the playoffs. The goal right now is just to keep stacking wins together and playing well and getting better.”

Crater went 2-2 in close games to open the season during its own spring break tournament, and matchups with Hood River Valley, Corvallis, Scappoose and La Salle Prep — teams in the top 10 at the 5A and 4A levels — generated a ratings boost.

Throw in some quality competition at the Fresno Easter Classic — where the Comets went 1-3, and steady results to open the MWL slate — and you’ve got a mathematical formula leaning in Crater’s favor in the final month of the season.

“That spring break tournament kind of is paying off just with the teams we had there,” said Campbell, “and then you look at the records of the teams we played in California and they’re pretty good, so that helps.”

“We’ve put ourselves in a pretty good spot, I think, after taking two out of three from North Eugene and then sweeping Churchill,” he added. “We battled (No. 1) Thurston tough last week, and I think we got some confidence there to help us get a win tonight (against Eagle Point). It’s never easy to get a win out there.”

Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Eagle Point (8-10, 5-5 MWL) was all about capitalizing on the opportunities that presented themselves. Crater (9-9, 6-4) managed only three hits, but drew seven walks altogether and saw two players reach base after being hit by a pitch.

“Sometimes you’ve got to do the little things right, and we did a lot of the little things right today that ended up being the difference,” Campbell said afterwards. “Whether it be wearing a pitch or sacrificing a guy over or stealing a base, that was kind of the difference today.”

Crater sophomore Caleb Cornett slides safe to second base against Eagle Point Tuesday. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

“It was a good ballgame and we knew it was going to be close,” he added, “so I was happy to see us come out with the win and doing some things correctly.”

A two-base error to open the game allowed Mason Snopl to immediately get into scoring position for the Comets. The junior was then sacrificed to third base on a bunt by sophomore Caleb Cornett, and scored following a wild pitch by EP starter Sean McFall.

Cornett later singled to lead off the third inning and, after a stolen base, scored on a single by sophomore Andrew Sweet to build a 2-0 advantage.

The Eagles were able to break their drought when junior Mason DeVry opened the fifth inning with a single, was sacrificed to second by senior Brendon Rullamas and then scored an unearned run on a two-base following a ball put in play by senior Ian Isackson.

Other than that slight slip in defensive support, Snopl did well to squash any threat put forth by Eagle Point. The right-handed pitcher scattered five hits with four strikeouts and two walks — throwing strikes on 64 of his 95 pitches.

“Mason’s been solid all year,” said Campbell. “Today he was able to limit things; they scored a run, but it was an unearned run. In his last couple outings, he just keeps getting better and better. He’s been really, really good his last three or four outings, and was able to throw three pitches for a strike today and keep them off balance. If you can do that as a high school pitcher, you’re going to be pretty successful.”

Crater was able to create a cushion with two runs in the seventh inning without the benefit of a single hit. The Comets had one hit batter and drew three walks to go with a sacrifice fly by Cornett, and a balk set the stage for another run to come in on a wild pitch.

Eagle Point junior Sean McFall, far left, puts Crater senior Tanner Keith in a pickle between second and third base Tuesday in Eagle Point. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

The teams square off again Friday in a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Anhorn Field in Central Point, and then the Comets close the regular season against Ashland and Springfield, who have combined for six wins in 29 outings.

Crater advanced to the state playoffs last season, but has not earned a playoff win since motoring to the 5A state title in 2018 — a year after the Comets finished as state runner-up.

Erasing that trend would certainly be nice, but Campbell isn’t about to put the cart before the horse for a team that carries only three seniors (Kasen Orr, Tanner Keith and Trevin Gingg).

Crater’s starting infield includes sophomore starters at third base (Zack Harrington), shortstop (Cornett) and first base (Andrew Sweet), and a junior at second base (Morgan Austin).

“We’re pretty young, but they practice hard every day and we’re getting better and better each day, which is encouraging,” said Campbell. “Hopefully we can make it to the playoffs and put a good run together.”

“With such a young team, we’re just taking one day at a time and one practice at a time,” he added. “We’ll get back to practice (Wednesday) and work on some things that we didn’t do well, and just try to continue to keep grinding the days out and getting better.”

Reach sports editor Kris Henry at kris.henry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035

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