![Reaching out. Christopher Lesh, student at Central Catholic High School, serves ice cream during the event on March 2, 2025, at the Portland waterfront. Central Catholic was just one of the schools that sent student volunteers out to cook, prepare, dish, and serve food. Interact club’s co-president Rachel Gerber, junior, plated the food during the event. “I like how direct the contact is,” Gerber said. “You’re there [and] you’re just doing something good. It’s simple, it’s easy, you can feel good about it.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/interact-1-edited-1200x744.jpg)
*WEB CONTINUATION: This article originally appeared in Volume 105 Issue 3 of our news magazine, Amplifier.
For the current seniors, winning the state championship this year would mean earning a title every year of their high school career. In 2022, the Lions baseball team won their first Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) 6A state title in over 30 years. Led by coach Joe Monahan, the current team is recovering from losing 11 seniors from last season, including four Division 1 baseball recruits. The team must add multiple first-year varsity players in hopes of continuing their championship title legacy.
Ryan Hemsley, junior, played as a starter in the last state championship, his first year on varsity. Last year, the team had 20 players, with only two sophomores playing in the championship game.
“I think winning [the state championship] was a little different for me than for everyone else because most, if not everyone, had already won two in a row,” Hemsley said. “[Winning the state championship] was surreal, I can still picture the last inning, throwing my glove up and running to the dogpile on the mound.”
Carson Boyer, senior, has played in the last three state championship games.
“It’s definitely going to be more scrappy this year with new players. We try to be as competitive as possible and prepare for who we’re going to face,” Boyer said. “We’re going to have to have a really good team bond and just play well together. Coach [Monahan] always has a good game plan, so I feel pretty confident.”
Although Boyer has experience on the varsity baseball team, for many players, this will be their first year on the varsity field. Caden Klouda, junior, swung up from JV when needed last year, but this is his first official season on varsity.
“I think there is a lot of pressure to perform well [this season], but for me personally, it feels like a fresh start since it’s my first year on varsity,” Klouda said. “I know a lot of teams will be after us since we did so well in the last couple of years. I think that our first few matches will prepare us well.”
Boyer, a Gonzaga recruit, is excited to welcome a new batch of players onto the team.
“[My former teammates] all pushed me to be who I am,” Boyer said. “I don’t think I’d be where I’m at if it wasn’t for those experiences. So I really want to try to be that type of guy for the underclassmen, so they also have the same good memories.”
Last year, the team beat Sunset High School in the final with a score of 8—4, making them the only team in the OSAA 6A division to win three championships in a row. Hemsley hopes to continue the streak.
“Joining a team who had back-to-back titles was definitely a lot of pressure,” Hemsley said. “It was a lot of hard work and effort. Honestly, just being able to play for them and having an impact was a huge lesson for me.”
This coming year, the team plays Sunset in their second game. The outcomes of the first few games often set the tone for the rest of the season. Although West Linn is entering the season with multiple new players, the team has high expectations for achieving the four-peat.
“I know that there are some teams that might be ranked above us, and I think we just have to keep the same mentality,” Klouda said. “I’m looking forward to being the underdog of this season. I think a lot of teams don’t expect as much out of us this year, and I think we have a very good chance of proving them wrong.”
