Last season, the boys baseball came up short, finishing third in the league and losing in the state quarterfinal. 

This season, the baseball team is determined to win it all, senior and co-captain Kiernan Kelly said.

“We’re really gunning for the league title,” Kelly said. 

Currently, they’re sitting on an overall record of 6-9, and have a streak of 3-1 in league. 

According to Kelly, the boys are focusing on stacking wins against the lower-ranked competition, and competing against their two biggest adversaries: Wilsonville High School and Canby High School.

“They’re the top of the top that we have our eyes set on,” Kelly said. 

They had a successful previous season, finishing just behind Canby and Wilsonville in league. 

“Last year, we were more like ‘nobody can really beat us,’” senior and co-captain Roscoe Mithoefer said. 

This season, the team looks a bit different, as they’ve had to cope with the losses of “key seniors” Max Bishop and Torsten Hersom, junior Jack Schweitzer said.

Now, the Falcons only have four seniors and a lot of younger players. 

“Losing the seniors last year kind of hurt because they were really good for the culture,” Mithoefer said. “Now, I don’t think we’re in the right mindset of ‘nobody can beat us,’ but I think we’re definitely moving towards that.” 

The roster change sparked a positive and healthy competition between a few of the players hoping to fill their spots, Kelly said.

“Iron sharpens iron,” Kelly said. “These guys grinded in the offseason.”  

Now, stepping up to the plate are juniors Charley Chipps and Ethan Kissee, Schweitzer said.

The seniors on the team have taken it upon themselves to ensure that the team’s standards are upheld, trying to work in the best interest of their teammates and keep everyone on the same page, Kelly said. 

“We still pick up all the baseballs, we still clean up the field, we don’t just sit back and let everybody do that,” Mithoefer said. “Even when you’re an upperclassman, you’re never above the program or above the team.” 

This season, the boys have placed a huge emphasis on improving team culture, playing for each other, and working toward one goal: winning the league and ultimately trying to win the state title – something that has never been done before in La Salle history.  

“We’re really just trying to stay connected and uphold our program’s goals,” Kelly said. 

In the meantime, before they go head-to-head with two of their harder opponents, the team hopes to set themselves up for success. 

“We show up to practice every day ready to work, and we hold each other accountable to mistakes so that we correct mistakes in practice, so that when we get into the game, we don’t have those mistakes,” Kelly said. 

The team is also continuing to focus on the more minute details, working on repetitions and putting them into practice, Schweitzer said.   

“Obviously, hitting home runs and getting wins are great, but I think that just focusing on the little things is probably the most important,” Mithoefer said. 

When the team finally gets to those two series, they plan on taking care of business and winning the league.

“That’ll project us to a couple of home games and hopefully for a deep playoff run,” Kelly said. 

Before the season began, the baseball team was placed outside of the top ten of OSAA’s 5A rankings, but this doesn’t concern the Falcons. 

“None of those teams are better than us,” Mithoefer said. “I don’t try to worry about rankings early in the season. I only really get into it once we get late in league.”

For some of the players, this is used as motivation. 

“We’ve always been overlooked,” Kelly said. “We’re basically the underdog in every single game we play. Everyone thinks they can beat us, so we honestly play with a chip on our shoulder.” 

As of right now, the Falcons are in the process of gaining more forward momentum and focusing on the controllables. They know they belong high in these rankings. 

“We’re on the up and up,” Kelly said. “Once we start playing our good baseball, our wins will speak for themselves.”