Cascade Christian churns out comeback victory to kick off state playoffs

Published 12:37 pm Thursday, May 29, 2025

By KRIS HENRY / Rogue Valley Times

Second-seeded Challengers score six unanswered runs late to escape upset bid by No. 15 Creswell in second round

With the number of freshmen and sophomores on the roster dwarfing their senior teammates, Cascade Christian faced a bit of the unknown Wednesday evening in the Class 3A baseball state playoffs.

After receiving a first-round bye, the second-seeded Challengers finally took to the field to begin pursuit of a potential second trip in three years to the state finals — and it didn’t necessarily start well.

Visiting Creswell took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning Wednesday at Lithia & Driveway Fields, then sat the Challengers down in order to create an early wakeup call for a group with only three seniors.

Cascade Christian’s Andy Alvarez slides into third base following an RBI triple in the second inning against Creswell at Lithia & Driveway Fields in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

After regrouping, Cascade Christian was able to turn the page quickly and show the mettle of a team that shared the Southern Oregon Conference title and has produced another 20-win season under head coach Kevin Shafer.

Freshman Andy Alvarez kicked the comeback off with an RBI triple in the second inning, sophomore Grady Sickler highlighted the third inning with a two-run double and the Challengers suddenly were off and running toward a 10-4 second-round victory.

“I think no matter how many times you’ve done it, there’s always going to be some jitters and some things going into the playoffs that make it a little different,” said Shafer.

“No matter how much we try to say it’s just another game, it does mean a little bit more,” he added. “With our young club, from a coaching staff standpoint, there was a little bit of that worry of how are we going to react when things aren’t going our way. After getting down 2-0 in the first inning, our kids did a good job of just staying with what we do and competing and believing that they’re going to be the ones that come out on top at the end.”

With the win, Cascade Christian (22-6) secured a quarterfinal matchup at home at 3 p.m. Friday against a familiar — and quality — foe in South Umpqua (19-8).

The seventh-seeded Lancers went head-to-head in several classic Far West League battles with the Challengers the past few years before a change in league configuration split up the teams. South Umpqua, guided by veteran head coach Steve Stebbins, topped Horizon Christian in Wednesday’s second round, 6-2, and was swept previously this year in a doubleheader against Cascade on April 4, 4-3 and 10-0.

“We try to play Stebs every year, whether we’re in the league or not,” said Shafer. “The coaching staff is great and their kids play the game the right way, so it’ll be a fun quarterfinals.”

Cascade Christian’s Grady Sickler delivers a pitch against Creswell during Wednesday’s state playoff game at Lithia & Driveway Fields in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

“The nice thing is we know who they are and they know who we are,” he added. “There’s no tricks, there’s no cards hidden in the sleeve, it’s just going to be baseball. The better team and the team that makes the most plays and scores more runs is going to have a chance to move on.”

Creswell (16-13), the No. 15 seed, gave the Challengers all they wanted Wednesday — taking the early momentum and eventually outhitting Cascade by a 10-6 margin — but the Medford crew was not deterred.

Even after the Bulldogs countered to even the score at 4-all in the top of the fifth, the Challengers put together a pair of three-run frames in the fifth and sixth innings to close out the contest.

Sickler, again, supplied the biggest hit over that span with a two-run triple in the fifth, and finished 2-for-3 with two runs and four RBIs.

“That’s just what Grady does,” said Shafer. “He’s a phenomenal player and a great leader. Him and (senior C.J. Bonner) have really kind of been the glue to our lineup as far as the guys driving in runs. Bryson Walker’s been great at the top of it, too. When he gets on, we score.”

Walker, a sophomore, drew two walks and was twice hit by a pitch to reach safely in all four of his at-bats, boosting his season total to 52 runs scored after crossing the plate three times against Creswell.

Sophomore Wyatt Hurley was Cascade’s only other multiple hitter, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs on run-scoring singles in the second and sixth innings and a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Cascade Christian’s Seth Scaglione drops down a squeeze bunt in the sixth inning against Creswell during Wednesday’s Class 3A baseball staet playoff game in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

“We got some big hits when we needed them,” said Shafer. “We only had six hits, and I think three of the six were extra-base hits, so we made them count the most.”

Freshman Blake Patereau, who opened the season on fire and then missed several weeks due to injury before returning recently, got the start Wednesday and allowed five hits in 1 ⅔ innings before exiting after 44 pitches.

“In his mind it was just a really bad day, but for what it was, he really survived some big moments,” said Shafer. “He did a great job of kind of limiting the trouble that he got into. Even though it wasn’t his best stuff, what he did really kept us in the game.”

The Challengers went to a change of pace in Sickler in the second inning, and that worked wonders as Sickler improved to 10-2 on the mound by scattering five hits over 5 ⅓ innings with seven strikeouts.

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

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