Clackamas advanced into the 6A baseball quarterfinals on Wednesday, beating upset-hungry Beaverton 4-3 at Clackamas High School.
Senior Joey Giancola was dialed in at the plate and fueled the No. 21 Cavaliers to the win, providing three pivotal hits to catalyze the Clackamas offense against the stingy No. 28 Beavers.
“I saw the ball well,” Giancola said. “Every single hit was with two strikes, so I shortened up the swing and put the ball in play, and good things happen when you put the ball in play.”
In the bottom of the first, Giancola followed up a lead-off double by senior Kayle Pisano with a troublemaking bunt that caused an infield error by Beaverton.
As the ball was misfielded on the throw to first base, Pisano ultimately came around to score while Giancola reached second. The Beavers escaped the inning allowing just one run, but not before Giancola helped give the Cavaliers an early lead.
Then, in the bottom of the third, after Beaverton used two hits and a sacrifice fly to score its first run of the game, Giancola led off with a triple while Clackamas led just 2-1.
“I was just waiting for it,” Giancola said. “I was actually sitting (thinking) curveball there, but I saw a fastball, my eyes lit up, and I just got out in front and I barely swung. I wanted to take something off for that two-strike at-bat, and I let it fly.”
Sophomore Nolan Foglio followed-up with an RBI single, and the Cavaliers seized a two-run lead before the Beavers recorded two swift outs to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Giancola recorded another clutch multi-base hit, following up Pisano’s walk with a momentous double. Minutes later, freshman Luke Brady would provide a textbook sacrifice fly to score Pisano, and Clackamas had a 4-1 lead it would never surrender.
“That was a huge win — second round of the playoffs,” Giancola said. “Last year we had an early exit, so we’re happy to win.”
While Giancola didn’t record an RBI on Wednesday, his timely hits were necessary in the Cavaliers’ offensive attack, which was aided by a solid performance on the defensive side as well.
In the top of the fifth, after Giancola’s triple led to the 3-1 lead, Clackamas picked off two Beaverton baserunners at the plate.
The first came after a wild sequence along the infield which ended in a well-timed throw to the plate by Giancola, while the second came on a laser-beam throw from deep left field by freshman Jonah Lam.
Lam also helped the Cavaliers score their second run of the game, providing a lead-off double in the bottom of the second before junior Cole Stevens recorded an RBI single.
Beaverton would ultimately fight back in the top of the seventh, as junior Dax Texeira provided a lead-off walk and senior Aidan Rice reached on an infield error that would ultimately allow both runners to advance to second and third.
After senior Edward Hodes was also walked, junior Michael Braden grounded into a possible double play at second, but the throw for the second out was wide of Pisano at first, allowing both Texeira and Rice to score.
Leading just 4-3, Clackamas finally wriggled free when the Beavers’ Max Campbell popped up to right field, where Jacob Strube recorded the final out for the Cavaliers.
While Brady stepped into relief duty for the final frame, fellow freshman Ben Foglio went six complete innings for Clackamas, striking out four batters while allowing just one run.
“Two freshmen — outstanding,” Giancola said. “Ben Foglio and Luke Brady, who’s barely pitched all year; they did really well and I’m very proud of them both.”
Meanwhile, Beaverton was fueled by two hits apiece from Hodes and senior Brendan Papadopolous.
With the win, the Cavaliers advance to the 6A quarterfinal round, where they’ll face off against fourth-seeded Jesuit.
Clackamas won a non-league matchup between the two teams 8-1 back on March 26.
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