Class 2A/1A baseball playoffs: UVC defeats Knappa 6-0, reaches state final behind another Hellenthal gem
By Joey Keeran
Ty Hellenthal has been lights out in the postseason and the Umpqua Valley Christian baseball team is headed back to the OSAA Class 2A/1A state championship game after a 6-0 win over No. 4-seeded Knappa on Tuesday at Bill Gray Legion Stadium at Champion Car Wash Field.
Hellenthal, a senior for the No. 1 Monarchs, pitched a complete-game and came up with two run-scoring hits to keep UVC’s hopes of back-to-back state titles alive.
“There’s just not enough adjectives to describe what that kid is,” Umpqua Valley Christian coach Dave York said.
The reigning 2A/1A Player of the Year has now tossed 12 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason for the Monarchs. He finished Tuesday’s semifinal game allowing just five hits over seven innings with no walks and 11 strikeouts.
Hellenthal did all of that on just three days rest after pitching a five-inning no-hitter against Irrigon in the quarterfinals Friday.
“I was hoping to go today, but didn’t know until (Monday) after practice,” Hellenthal said. “But, I was really excited to get up there on the mound, knowing that our defense was doing great and our bats seem to keep working.”
Hellenthal also had some added motivation after suffering a 2-1 loss at Knappa in a nonleague game back on April 5.
“It felt great to get our get-back. That’s a great program right there. I think we’ve both grown a ton this season. That was a lot different game than we played the first time, but luckily we came out on top,” Hellenthal said.
“The big thing in that game (in April) was we had a ton of hits, we just did not get guys home,” York said. “We’ve been working on a lot of it, just getting guys on the bags, getting them over and getting them in. We had a lot of big knocks with guys in scoring position and I think that was a big thing, especially early in the game.”
While Hellenthal was shutting down the Knappa offense, the Monarchs were being stubborn outs at the plate.
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Every single run scored by Umpqua Valley Christian (27-4) came with two outs. The Monarchs took a 1-0 lead in the first on a two-out double by Ryan Shaver.
UVC added three runs in the second inning on three consecutive two-out hits. Teagan Sprague drove in a run with a single, followed by an RBI triple from Hellenthal and a run-scoring single by Logan Anderson.
A two-out double by Sprague in the fourth inning drove in Max Chrisenbery to put UVC ahead 5-0 and the Monarchs added their final run on a two-out single by Hellenthal in the sixth.
“Those are killer moments for the other club. I think that was a big deal for us,” York said.
Sprague was 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored. Hellenthal, Anderson and Chrisenbery were all 2-for-3.
Jude Miller had two of the five hits for Knappa (19-6).
Umpqua Valley Christian will face No. 2 Kennedy in the Class 2A/1A state title game at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at PK Park in Eugene. The Trojans (26-3) stopped No. 19 Portland Christian’s Cinderella run with an 8-3 win in the other semifinal game on Tuesday in Mt. Angel.
UVC and Kennedy met back in the 2022 state championship game in a similar scenario. The Monarchs were seeded No. 1 and the Trojans were No. 2, but it was Kennedy that ran away with an 11-1 win in six innings.
A shot at redemption was on Hellenthal’s mind after the win against Knappa.
“Been hoping to get this one back since freshman year,” Hellenthal said. “Hopefully a better result. Go in there, play our game, play good defense, get a timely hit and hopefully get a win.”
“We’re going to have a battle on our hands,” York said. “(Kennedy coach) Kevin (Moffatt) is a good friend and they’ve coached it really well for a lot of years. I know he felt this (Kennedy) team was going to be a little weaker and they’re not.”
Kennedy has won three state titles under Moffatt, the first coming in 2012. The Trojans have matched up with Umpqua Valley Christian twice in the title game, losing in 2019 and winning in 2022.
UVC is making its eighth trip to the championship game and will look to win a fifth title, all coming with York at the helm. This is the second time in the program’s history that the Monarchs will play in the final in back-to-back seasons. They reached the championship game in 2008 and 2009, winning it all in ’09.
Knappa;000;000;0;—;0;5;2
UVC;130;101;X;—;6;11;0
Masters, Hill (6) and Casper; Hellenthal and Blankenship. W — Hellenthal. L — Masters. 2B — Sprague (UVC), Shaver (UVC). 3B — Hellenthal (UVC).
