The situations are strikingly similar.
Dayton High School’s softball team and Santiam Christian’s baseball team, programs from the West Valley League with long histories of success and long-tenured coaches, play for their second consecutive state championships Friday afternoon.
Dayton’s Kylee Hill runs through first base as the Pirates defeat Pleasant Hill 1-0 in semifinals of the OSAA Class 3A state playoffs on Tuesday, May 31, 2016, in Dayton.
No. 1 seed Dayton (27-3) plays No. 3 seed Rainier (23-6) at 4 p.m. Friday in the OSAA Class 3A softball championship game at the OSU Softball Complex in Corvallis.
No. 1 seed Santiam Christian (25-3) plays No. 3 seed Stanfield/Echo (28-2) in the OSAA Class 3A state championship baseball game at 5 p.m. Friday at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.
Both teams are playing familiar opponents.
Santiam Christian, guided by 28th year head coach Matt Nosack, beat Stanfield/Echo 2-1 when the teams played April 21.
Dayton beat Rainier 5-1 in the state championship game in 2015. This season Dayton lost to Rainier 3-2 when the teams played March 18 and beat Rainier 5-1 when they played May 13.
“Rainier has beaten us, and we’ve beaten them,” said Dayton coach Rob Umbenhower, in his 17th year at Dayton. “They have a good pitcher. They have a dominant pitcher, good team.
“We’re used to seeing them. This is the third year in a row, and we saw them in the semifinals before that so we’re kind of used to each other.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler