For seven baseball and softball teams in Yamhill County, this week is the one where memories get made for a lifetime. It's state tourney time.
Win or go home. Every inning, every pitch, every at-bat carries more weight. For some teams in the county, there's the pressure of expectations and the steadiness of experience. For others, there's nothing to lose - and that's its own kind of fuel.
As someone who grew up in a large city but spent most of his adult life in smaller, single-school communities, I've seen what these moments mean in a town like this. There's something different about wearing your city's name across your chest when the whole town is watching.
You could feel it Thursday at Newberg's regular season finale - stands packed, every hit and every run met with the full voice of the city behind it.
That's the cool part of living out here. The pride runs deep.
Get out and support your teams this week.
SCHEDULE
6A Baseball Bracket | 6A Softball Bracket | 3A Softball Bracket
Monday
- Noon: No. 14 McMinnville softball vs. No. 19 Sandy - McMinnville HS
- 1 p.m.: No. 16 Willamina/Sheridan softball vs. No. 17 Pleasant Hill - Willamina HS
- 3:30 p.m.: No. 10 Newberg baseball vs. No. 23 South Medford - Newberg HS
- 5 p.m.: No. 19 McMinnville baseball at No. 14 Beaverton - Beaverton HS
- 5 p.m.: No. 32 Newberg softball at No. 1 West Linn - West Linn HS
Wednesday
- TBD: No. 3 Yamhill-Carlton softball vs. No. 14 Valley Catholic or No. 19 Lakeview/Paisley - Yamhill-Carlton HS
- TBD: No. 4 Dayton softball vs. No. 13 Warrenton or No. 20 Brookings-Harbor - Dayton HS
