Cheesemaker baseball and softball preview

Baseball team aims for state tourney

After starting practice on February 26, the Tillamook High Cheesemakers baseball and softball teams both concluded preseason preparations and they opened their season this week with nonleague games.

The Cheesemakers’ baseball team plays its 2024 season opener in a 4:30 p.m. road game Friday versus the Dayton High Pirates (11-12 in 2023). Tillamook won 9-2 over Dayton in a nonleague game last year.

After qualifying for a 2023 Play-In round game for a second consecutive season, the Cheesemakers baseball team is hoping to continue enjoying success on the field again this year.

The Mooks (9-13 in 2023) had hoped to reach the state playoffs for a second straight year but they fell just short of their goal following an 11-8 Play-In round road loss to the Junction City High Tigers (13-11) on May 19, 2023. The Mooks had a slump at the end of the season during which they lost four of their last five games, which made it difficult to establish momentum for the postseason.

Tillamook, 5-7 in league play last season and guided by coach Matt Strang, finished tied for second place in the six-team Cowapa League standings last year with the Astoria Fishermen (5-7 league, 10-14 overall). The defending state champion Scappoose High Indians won the league title with 12-0 record and were 27-2 overall.

“The end of the season was a bit of a disappointment, especially because we had nine seniors who had lots of success the previous year as juniors,” said Strang. “We just had tough matchup against a good Junction City team and we couldn’t pull out a win to make it to the state playoffs.

The Mooks will rely on sophomore shortstop/pitcher Jakoby Goss and sophomore third baseman/pitcher Josh Manns to help lead a much younger and less experienced squad this year. Goss and Manns both earned Cowapa League All-League Awards last season and they’re the only returning starters from a year ago.

“We only have two seniors and three juniors and most of our starting lineup consists of sophomores,” said Strang. “The sophomores are a very talented group and many of them probably could’ve played on the varsity last year. I wanted them to develop and get more playing time so they were on the junior varsity team as freshmen. Now those guys are a year older and we also have a really strong freshman group too. They took second place last year in the eighth grade JBO level, so they’re very good players.”

Following Friday’s season opener, the Mooks play their next game March 18, on the road versus the defending 3A champion Banks High Braves (27-3 in 2023) at Hillsboro Hops Stadium. Banks won 4-0 over Tillamook in a nonleague matchup last year in Hillsboro.

“The future looks really bright for our team and I think we’re going to surprise some people this year,” said Strang. “I think a lot of people are counting us out because we’re so young, but we have a really solid group. I’m not predicting that we’ll win a state championship, but I think we will surprise some other teams.”

The Mooks continue a grueling schedule in which they’ll play three games in four days. Tillamook plays its home opener March 19 at 4 p.m. against the Warrenton High Warriors (20-7 in 2023), a state playoff team last year. They’ll follow with a March 21 4 p.m. home game versus the Newport High Cubs (17-9 in 2023). Tillamook begins a 12-game Cowapa schedule April 2 at home versus Astoria.

“I want our players to have some success this season so that they’ll be excited for the future,” said Strang. “We have a really talented and young team that is capable of competing well in our league and I think we’ll do just fine this year.”

Softball looks for rebound season

The Cheesemakers took fourth place last year in the Cowapa League, which was one of the toughest leagues in the state with three teams (St. Helens, Astoria, Scappoose) all in the top-10 of the OSAA 4A softball rankings.

A young Tillamook squad with only two seniors, Gabi Garcia and Tori Pesterfield, struggled at times last season and endured a tough 14-game losing streak. Tillamook (3-9 league, 5-16 overall) snapped the streak with an 11-5 win over the Seaside High Seagulls (1-11 league, 9-16) on May 4, 2023.

The Mooks, guided by Coach Chelsea Miller, have an experienced squad, led by seniors Savannah Crawford, Jaedyn Haertel, Dannika Goss, Kylie Burden, Aracely Viramontes Morales and Makinley Nielsen, who earned a Cowapa League designated player award last season. Viramontes Morales won a Cowapa All League Award and junior Hannah Obrist won an Honorable Mention Award. Tillamook has a total of 26 players between the varsity and junior varsity squads.

“Something that is really exciting this year is that all of our Cowapa teams have JV squads, which is something that hasn’t happened in recent years, so we’re excited that the junior varsity team will play lots of games,” said Miller. “It’s nice having six seniors and we’re hoping that they will take on the leadership role and really get things done and set a good example for the future of the team.”

The Mooks defense will be led by the pitching duo of Nielsen and sophomore Meghan Erickson. Although she was suffering from an elbow injury last year, Nielsen played and was a designated hitter. Nielsen won a Cowapa League All League Award as the designated player.

“Makinley filled her role real nicely last year as our designated hitter and she did a fantastic job and it was her way of contributing to the team,” said Miller. “We lost a senior pitcher (Pesterfield) last year and so Meghan will fill that additional pitching role for us this year. Astoria, St. Helens and Scappoose are going to be very good again, but I think we’ll have a chance to compete for a playoff spot and anything is possible.”

After starting the season March 11, against the Gaston High Greyhounds (results unavailable), Tillamook plays a nonleague game Thursday at 4 p.m. at home versus the North Marion High Huskies (1-18 in 2023), followed by a 4:30 p.m. nonleague road matchup against the Banks High Braves (12-12 in 2023).

The Mooks play a March 19, 3:30 p.m. nonleague road game against the Warrenton High Warriors. Tillamook starts a 12-game Cowapa League schedule April 2, on the road versus the defending league champion Astoria High Fishermen (9-3 league, 19-7 overall in 2023). A highlight for the Mooks last year was a 2-1 win over the Fishermen on May 15, 2023, at Astoria High School.