It was a year of big moments for both the baseball and softball teams, with none bigger than those provided by
Dylan Carson,
Mana Heffernan, and
Gracie Hamilton.
Dylan Carson Ties NAIA National Home Run Record
On a crisp late-winter Saturday, Senior
Dylan Carson provided plenty of heat as he completed an eight-hit, 12-RBI day to lead the Beacons to a dominant Cascade Collegiate Conference sweep of Warner Pacific University on February 21 as Bushnell won 21-1 and 16-3 in a pair of run-rule victories.
Carson could not be stopped in the opener as he broke a 27-year old CCC record and tied the NAIA record with four home runs. He went 5-for-5 in the game and earned a new school record with nine RBI. His day included a two-run homer in the first, three-run shot in the third, a single in the fourth, another three-run homer in the fifth and a solo bomb to cap it off in the sixth inning of the seven-inning game.
The Beacon slugger did not relent in the night cap, batting 3-for-4 with three more RBI, including an RBI single in the first and his fifth home run on the day, a two-run blast in the second inning.
Carson was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference Baseball Player of the Week, but inexplicably missed out on NAIA National Player of the Week honors.
Mana Heffernan Walks-Off No. 5 LC State in 15th Inning
On April 17,
Mana Heffernan punched a bases-loaded single through the left side of the infield in the bottom of the 15th inning, lifting Bushnell to a 4-3 victory over No.5-ranked Lewis-Clark State College.
The Beacons proved victorious through sheer power of will, handing the Warriors just their fifth loss of the season in what would be the longest game in Beacons Baseball history. Pure pitching prowess was on display for both teams as each team went with just three pitchers in the marathon. The result were six solid performances that including a combined 24 strikeouts.
For the Beacons, freshman
Griffin Sanchez was remarkable, throwing 96 pitches as he had the longest outing in school history with nine complete innings of work, striking out three and giving up eight hits.
Jahshua Yacapin went two innings and gave up one run on one hit before giving way to
Chase Marshall (pictured) . Marshall (3-0) closed out the final four innings with a season-defining performance as he struck out eight batters and gave up just one hit.
Scoring was difficult to come by, but the Warriors had gotten on base first with run in the second innings and a solo homer from Brandon Nguyen in the fifth to go up 2-0.
Bushnell got one back in the sixth on an
Albert Jennings RBI double, his school-record 17th of the season. But the Beacons headed into the bottom of the ninth still trailing. Down to their final out,
Danny Womack came through in the clutch, tying the game with a double, bringing home Richter who had reached on a walk.
The Warriors nearly ended the game in the 11th as Noah Weintraub hit a one-out homer to give the visitors the 3-2 edge. Bushnell responded in the bottom of the frame, however, as
Eli Pupo walked and scored on
Josh Miyazawa's single through the right side.
Neither team could come up with a hit over the next three and a half scoreless innings before the Beacons broke through in the bottom of the 15th.
With one out, Pupo hit a towering ball to center field which the Warriors were unable to pick up in the lights, resulting in a triple. Miyazawa was then intentionally walked and when his courtesy runner
Jacob Wood stole second, the Warriors elected to intentionally walk
Nigel Fahland to load the bases for Heffernan. The freshman came through with the memorable walk off single for the victory.
Gracie Hamilton Hits Senior-Weekend Walk-Off Homer
Earlier that same day and less than two miles away at Rich Schwab Field, senior softball player
Gracie Hamilton provided Bushnell with their biggest win of the season, hitting a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Bushnell a 13-11 victory over The College of Idaho in the CCC series opener.
Bushnell experienced all of the highs and lows imaginable in the contest against a team that was receiving votes in the NAIA National Coaches Poll and would go on to advance to the NAIA College World Series a few weeks later. The win for the Beacons broke an 11-game losing streak and gave them their first win over the College of Idaho since 2018.
The Yotes got off to the hot start, jumping out to a 4-0 lead behind a three-run third.
Bushnell began to slowly chip away from there, scoring two in the bottom of the third on a
Brenna Wilson double and
Makenzie Alexander sacrifice fly, and then taking the lead in the fourth as two runs scored on a throwing error.
The Beacons added three more runs in the fifth, as
Maddy Fullenwider hit a pinch hit RBI double before run-scoring singles from
Ashlyn Martin and Hamilton. Another two runs would come across in the bottom of the sixth and Bushnell took a commanding 10-4 lead into the seventh.
The Yotes, however, down to their final out, exploded for seven runs on eight hits, taking an 11-10 lead as it appeared Bushnell's hopes of ending a 24-game losing streak to College of Idaho would be for naught.
The Beacons went on to make quick work of the final comeback as
Shyla Mead and Martin reached with singles before Hamilton's first-ever bomb that just cleared the left field fence for the victory.
Hamilton finished the game hitting 3-for-4 with four RBI.
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