Well folks that’s a wrap for the 2023 season!

Central Oregon Adult Baseball continues to show the ability to grow as a league! We got to see over five times the amount of home runs hit. A lot of close baseball games, walk-off wins, and pitching gems amongst many highlights.

BOMBS AWAY!

We witnessed two opening day walk-offs, one being a homerun by Riverbandits first baseman Joe Sanzere. A few weeks later a two home run game by Nox shortstop Cody King, sending both balls onto the road at Bend High School. Forkballers Cade Baggerly hit leadoff home run late in the season to make it two years in a row with a home run for him, Andreas Madsen also connected with a home run to add to his stellar season at the plate. Gladiators sluggers Austin Ruffner and Jo Carroll both hit two during the regular season, Ruffner adding another in the playoffs.

EXPANSION TIME

The tale of two expansion teams was nothing more than amazing. Seeing the 1-15 Bison come in and make it to the last elimination game in the playoffs. Winning playoff games against the last two league champions; Angels and Gladiators. Forkballers showed some absolute grit taking their team of 10 to championship series in their first year as a team.

CHAMPIONS AGAIN

In the end the championship series was everything we expected.

Game one was a battle between the Gladiators pitchers Sean Jacox (4 IP), Bryce Coble (1 IP), and Aeon Brady held the Forkballers to 3 runs, while Jeff Gillespie (5 IP) and Andreas Madsen (1 IP) kept the Gladiators bats at bay and kept them at 4 runs on the game. Gladiators defense made some key plays including an outfield assist from left fielder Nick Coleman cutting down a runner at third as well as a throw to the plate from rookie outfielder Caleb Woodward to hold a runner at third. With five lead changes in the game the Gladiators would go on to take game one by a score of 4-3.

Game two was another pitching battle between aces Ian MacDougall and Andreas Madsen. Both pitchers gave it their all and threw complete games. We got to see a stellar play by Forkballers left fielder Jeff Hassert cutting down a runner at second base to limit a potential big inning early in the game. It came down to a one run game with a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the 7^th inning. MacDougall spotted a two-seamer up and in for a called strike three to end another outstanding season for his Gladiators team. The Gladiators have now won back-to-back championships and are the second team to do so since the NoNames did so in 2019 and 2020.

LOOKING AHEAD

Stay tuned for information regarding an end of the year gathering and awards presentation. Yes, you heard it here. AWARDS. This year COAB created an awards committee, and we have some hardware to pass out.

Due to strong interest in opportunities to continue play into the fall the managers will be meeting to discuss plans on how and where to have some opportunities to play this fall.

Keep on recruiting more guys into the league! We plan to expand again and will need to add around 40 new players to the league in order to do so. If you or someone you know is interested in playing and/or managing a team for 2024 please send an email to us and check out the league website for more information.