story by Mike Safford Jr.
EAGLE POINT, Ore. – For Klamath Falls pitcher P.J. Safford, a trip to Burley, Idaho, was the carrot dangling at the end of the American Legion baseball season. Safford tossed a complete 3-hitter in today’s opener and followed with a 3-for-4 performance in a winner-take-all title game, as the Falcons stunned the Eugene Ole Athletics, 11-1 and 8-1 to win the Oregon Senior American Legion state title – the first for a Basin team since 2000.
Safford, who was born in Idaho and moved to Klamath Falls four years ago, will return to his home state with the Falcons (34-9-1), who will head to the Magic Valley for the Northwest Single-A Regional Championships, Aug. 7-11.
Two days after the Ole’s (24-8) scored 11 runs in a win over the Falcons, Safford and Max Price were dominant, with the Klamath offense combined for 25 hits on the day – providing all the offense the right-handers needed.
“P.J. has been talking all week about winning this tournament and heading home to Idaho,” said Falcons skipper, Sean Teaters. “Grinder is the best word about him. He is a kid I love to coach and have told him I’d go to war with him any day. You know with the game on the line, he is the kid you want out there as he is going to compete his tail off – he is such a competitor.”
Safford did not allow a runner to third base until the sixth inning, working around four walks and four strikeouts for his second win of the tournament and his third complete game of the year.
“You have to throw strikes and let your defense help you out,” Safford said. “I went out there, tried to command the zone and allow us to keep our season alive. I am so excited to head home to Idaho, see all my old friends and teammates and try to bring a regional championship back to Klamath Falls.”
Klamath never trailed in the opener, as Price and Conner Shively opened with singles, with Price scoring on a throwing error and Shively trotting home on a Kollin Tacchini sacrifice fly.
The lead grew to 4-0 in the second as Carson Siems singled in a run and scored on a double steal, while an inning later, the squad strung together four consecutive 1-out hits, including an RBI single from Ian Meyer, an RBI double off the left field wall by Corbin Hamilton and a 2-run Ryan Douglas single – stretching the lead to 9-0, chasing starter Brody Tubbs.
The Falcons won the game due to the mercy rule in the sixth, getting consecutive singles by Tacchini, Safford and Meyer – with the winning run scoring on an error.
Price, Tacchini, Meyer and Siems each had two hits in the win, with Eugene’s Caleb VanOrdstrand recording two of the Ole’s three hits.
In the winner-take-all tilt, Price was a workhorse, throwing a season-best 108 pitches, limiting the Ole’s to two singles, working around six walks – in six-plus innings of work. The soon-to-be Henley junior coaxed a fly ball to end a bases-loaded threat in the third, got consecutive pop outs to wiggle out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth and got back-to-back strikeouts to strand a runner at third in the fifth.
“Eugene is a good ball club,” Price said. “I came into the game with confidence and our team knew we could win two games today – and we are walking away with a state title.”
Teaters echoed Price’s sentiments.
“We tell everybody when we put you in a position, we expect you to get the job done. These guys take it to heart. Max has played in a ton of big games – he wanted the ball and he showed us why.”
The Falcons built a 6-0 lead in the fourth, as Shively lined a single in the opening inning of title game – the first of his three hits in the contest – moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Jacoby Tacchini single. An inning later, Price helped his own cause, blooping a 2-run single into center, while in the fourth, Safford lined a 2-out, 2-run single and a pitch later, stayed in a run-down long enough to allow Kollin Tacchini to score from third.
After Eugene got a run back on a Zak Hermanson walk, the Falcons added an insurance run in the sixth as Shively tripled and scored on a Jacoby Tacchini single and in the seventh, Price delivered his third RBI of the game with a base hit, plating Hamilton.
In the end, winning four elimination games in three days didn’t surprise the skipper.
“We knew the first time was faced Eugene, we didn’t play our best baseball. Today, we came out here with a chip on our shoulder and we had the right guys to throw. I told our offense to keep battling and knew our defense would make plays – we were playing with house money, playing loose. Before the game, I said to the team – ‘Why Not Us’ and the guys made it happen. This is huge for Klamath Falls and Klamath Falls baseball.”
QUICK HITS – Klamath Falls will be one of eight teams in the regional – joining two teams from Idaho (including the host Burley Green Sox), two teams from Montana, along with teams from Alaska, Wyoming, and Utah.
Price finished the tournament 9-for-19 at the plate, with Shively and Jacoby Tacchini each recording eight hits.
Safford pitched a tournament-best 10 2/3 innings, allowing just six hits, no earned runs and striking out 14.
Klamath Falls has posted eight previous Triple-A state titles, including championships in 1996 and 2000.
BUS WOES – The Falcons are need of help in getting to Idaho, as their team bus broke down on Thursday and is in need of major repairs.
