The Evergreen Plainsmen are really on their way now.
A baseball league championship went from possible to very probable Thursday after Evergreen took down Mountain View 8-3 in a game for first place in the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League.
Tommy Snyder struck out 10 and gave up one earned run in his complete game, while Payton Monda and Josh Hibbard each drove in two runs to put the Plainsmen in prime position.
“Awesome. Awesome. This is awesome,” Monda said.
Evergreen improved to 10-2 in league play, dropping Mountain View to 9-4. Kelso, at 7-3, is a game back of the Plainsmen in the loss column, but Evergreen holds the tiebreaker over the Hilanders, as well.
That means it would take at the very least two losses by Evergreen in three games left against teams at the bottom of the standings to deny the Plainsmen a share of the league title and the No. 1 seed to bi-district.
In other words, the first league title in baseball for this program since 1982 is very much in the the works.
“The heart and the drive our team has this year is like no other team I’ve played for,” Hibbard said. “The one thing we have this year is we are a true team.”
He added that even when things get tough, the team does not get down. Instead, the players rally around each other.
“Like that last inning,” Monda said. “I never had any doubts. With Tommy on the bump, we’re good.”
Evergreen led 8-0 and Snyder had allowed one hit through six innings. The Thunder, though, would score three runs in the final inning on five hits and an error.
Again, no problem for these Plainsmen. Not this year.
“Our boys were up to it,” Evergreen coach Chad Burchett said. “We played a lot of close games this year. That’s really helped us. They learned how to compete. They learned how to win.”
This one was not too close. Cameron Hunt and Ryan Logan each drove in a run in the second inning for a 2-0 lead.
The Plainsmen would add four more runs in the fourth, going small ball with two bunt singles to open the frame. Carter Monda drove in a run, another came home on a wild pitch, and Payton Monda connected for a two-run single.
That was a nice way for Payton Monda to break out of a slump.
“Dang, that felt good,” he said, and then his coach came up to him after the inning. “He was like, ‘My man! My man!’ ”
Hibbard hit a two-run double in the top of the seventh inning. He came into the game leading the team in hits, but they were all singles.
He called it “electric” to finally get an extra-base hit.
Andrew Hensley, Garrett Moen, and Andrew Gulliford drove in the runs for Mountain View to avoid the shutout in the seventh inning.
Snyder, though, got out of that mini-jam with his 10th strikeout of the game.
Evergreen celebrated the big win, but nothing else.
After 35 years, the Plainsmen don’t mind waiting a few more days to clinch a league title.
