Caldera wins first state softball title in Eugene with 9-4 victory
Brooke Chapin struck out 15 and Elle Morton drove in four as Caldera beat Wilsonville 9-4 at Jane Sanders Stadium for its first state title.
Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene again served as the stage for Oregon high school softball’s biggest weekend, and Caldera left with the program’s first state championship. The Wolfpack beat Wilsonville 9-4 in the OSAA 5A title game Saturday, leaning on Brooke Chapin’s 15 strikeouts over seven innings and a big night from sophomore Elle Morton.
The victory capped a 29-1 season and extended Caldera’s winning streak to 13 games. It also made the Wolfpack the third different Central Oregon softball program in the past three years to bring home a state crown, a run that has turned the Bend area into one of the state’s strongest high school softball regions.
Caldera’s title came in a game it played without head coach Lisa Kienzle, who was away while her husband, Michael Kienzle, continued leukemia treatment in Seattle. The emotional weight of that absence was part of the backdrop at Eugene, where the Wolfpack kept its focus through a final that matched two teams with championship-level résumés.
Morton powered the offense with a 3-for-4 performance, four RBIs and a home run. Chapin added at the plate too, hitting a home run and driving in two runs while shutting down Wilsonville’s lineup in the circle. The Wilsonville defense had carried the Wildcats into the final after a 1-0, 12-inning semifinal win over Canby, but Caldera’s bats and pitching combined to end that run.
The Wolfpack had already beaten Wilsonville earlier this season and entered the bracket’s championship round after rolling through the early rounds. Caldera opened with an 11-1 quarterfinal win over La Salle, then survived a 7-5 semifinal comeback against Crater on June 2, rallying from a 5-1 deficit to reach the championship game for the first time in program history.
Wilsonville finished 23-7, but Caldera closed the season with the most meaningful win in school history. In Eugene, the final belonged to the Wolfpack, and the title banner now gives the program a place in Oregon softball history.
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