After tying the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Portland Christian fell behind again, 4-3 in the eighth inning. But the defending champs Royals came back again, and used a bases loaded, two out walk in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat Umpqua Valley Christian, 5-4, for back-to-back 2A/1A titles.

Read our complete OregonPrepSports.net game blog here ...

One year ago, Portland Christian's Jesse Severson was on the mound, closing out a 4-2 win over Riddle for the Royals' first baseball championship. A year later, Severson was again on the field with his former Royals, this time as a newspaper reporter inteviewing his former coach and team mates as the 2008 bunch of overachieving Royals won their second straight baseball title.

Though the players are now a year older, the result was the same as Portland Christian mounted two furius comebacks to first tie the game in the bottom of the seventh and then win the game with two out in the bottom of the eighth. But for Royal Nation, the outcome was anything but certain as the Monarchs outplayed, outhit and out pitched the Royals for the first four innings.

PC sophomore pitcher Vance Downey started and won his third straight OSAA playoff game, again going the distance - and then some - pitching all eight innings for the complete game win. Downey gave up seven hits, struck out two, and surrendered only two earned runs. UVC's Ryan Graf, a 1st team all-state pitcher, was equally effective, giving up three earned runs on nine hits, while striking out five.

Defense was the key to this game as UVC struck early for three runs, helped by a costly throwing error by Eric Tolleson, the 2007 Championship Player of the Game. The Royals caught a key break in the bottom of the eighth when, with one out, PC freshman Keegan Rogers reached on an error by UVC's Jacob Lum. The Royals's Eric Lemieux made the Monarchs pay for that mistake by driving in Rogers with a long double to left center that tied the score.

UVC's Michael Graham struck out two of the first three batters he faced in releif in the eighth. With the Monarch faithful sensing a final out that never came, Graham surrenderd an intentional walk, hit a batter, then threw four straight inside pitches with the bases loaded to end the game in a most improbable manner.

The Qwest Players of the game were UVC's Ryan Graf, who pitched a great game and also went 2-4 at the plate, scored a run and drove in another. PC's Eric Lemieux was the Royals counterpart, going 3-4, with two RBI's. Lemieux's clutch hitting tied the game twice - in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings. Fittingly, the Royals' catcher scored the winning run.

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Complete Game Blog

Defending champs Royals (20-7) take on hot Monarchs (23-7) at Volcanoes Stadium. Perfect weather greets fans from opposite ends of the state at Keizer's Volcanoes Stadium. The home team Royals are decked out in their white pants with purple shirts, while the UVC visitors share a purple jersey with gray slacks. After a rousing Natiional Anthem from Daniel Burnett, the Royals take the field with the 3-man umpire crew of Tim Clemenson (HP), Tracy McNulty (1B) and James Hawkins (3B) set to call the action.

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1st Inning: UVC 0 - PC 0

Royals starting pitcher Vance Downey sets down UVC in order, getting Michael Graham and Isaac Graham (no relation) on flyouts to center. Ryan Graf singles to left, but Downey picks him off at first for the 3rd out.

Graf counters with his own 1-2-3 inning, getting Eric Tolleson to fly out to center, followed by a John Church strikeout and Greg Thompson's pop-up to first. No score after one inning.

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2nd Inning: UVC 0 - PC 0

Downey faces only four batters. Gabe Forrester pops out to first; Austin Stone grounds out to third; Daniel Schultz draws a four-pitch walk, but is stranded when DH Mitchell Graham grounds out to Downey.

Graf is perfect again in the second inning, getting Keegan Rogers to ground out to second, Downey ground out to the pitcher and Eric Lemiuex goes down swinging.

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3rd inning: UVC 3 - PC 0

After Downey gets Tyler Schulz to fly out to center, the Royals' sophomore gives up a single to Jacob Lum, a walk to leadoff hitter Michael Graham and another single to Issac Graham, loading the bases with one out. Clean-up hitter Ryan Graf then hits a sharp grounder to SS Eric Tolleson - last year championship game MVP - whose throw to second is wide. Tolleson's throwing  error scores two UVC runs, and sends Isaac Graham to third base. DH Forrester then sends a shallow fly to right, which is caught by PC's Michael Rossi. Graham scores on the sacrifice fly. Stone grounds out to Downey to end the inning, but the damage is done.

PC's Rossi beats out an infield single for the Royals' first base runner of the game. But Graf sets down the next three Royals. Ryan Harding pops out to short; followed by back-to-back ground outs to third by Matt Larson and Tolleson.

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4th Inning: UVC 3 - PC 0

Downey settles down in the fourth inning, despite a leadoff bloop double by Daniel Schultz that Tolleson couldn't snag. After Mitch Graham flied out to left, the Royals caught Schultz in a rundown for the second out. Lum's ground out to third ended the inning.

Graf continues his dominance of PC, with yet another perfect inning, striking out Church for the second time. After Thompson singled, he was erased on a fielder's choice when Rogers grounded back to the pitcher. Rogers was then cut down on a steal attempt by a perfect throw by UVC's Michael Graham.

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5th Inning: UVC 3 - PC 1

Downey has his best inning since the first, with back-to-back fly outs to right by Michael Graham and Issac Graham, followed by a ground out to third by Graf.

The Royals finally get to Graf in the bottom of the fifth. Downey leads off with a stand-up double down the left field line. Lemiuex follows with a single, sending Downey to third. Rossi then singles in Downey, sending Lemieux to second. Harding next attempts to bunt over the runners, but Graf grabs the bunt and throws out the lead runner at third for the first out. UVC then shuts down the PC threat when Larson grounds into a classic 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

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6th Inning: UVC 3 - PC 1

Downey faces only four batters in the sixth. Forrester pops out to Lemieux, who makes a fine catch against the backstop. After Stone flies out to right, Schultz draws a four-pitch walk. But Downey catches Mitch Graham looking a strike three to end the inning.

The Royals lead off with the top of their order, but fail to hit the ball out of the infield. After Tolleson grounds out to third, Church pops out foul to third. Thompson goes down swinging to end the inning.

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7th Inning: UVC 3 - PC 3

Downey finishes the 7th, facing only four Monarchs. After Tyler Schultz goes down swinging, Jacob Lum grounds out to first. Michael Graham singles, but is put out on a 6-4 fielder's choice.

With the Royals facing possibly their final at bat of 2008, freshman Keegan Rogers leads off with a long double over the head of Forrester in right. Downey then steps to the plate and launches what appears to be a game-tying home run that bounces high off the top of the Salem Hospital sign, just to the right of the 350 ft mark. With the score now UVC 3 PC 2, Eric Lemiuex ties the game with a soft single to right, scoring Downey. Rossi then grounds out to first, advancing the winning run to second with one out. Harding then follows with a base hit up the middle. PC coach Ryan Miller halts Lemieux at third, as Harding takes second on the throw back to the infield. UVC then intentionally walks Tolleson to load the bases. Freshman John Church then rips a line drive right back to Graf, who snags the bullet to end the potential game-winning rally.

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8th Inning: PC 5 - UVC 4

Graf leads off with a double after a head first slide beats the throw to second. Downey then uncorks a wild pitch to the backstop, sending the go-ahead run to third. Forrester pops out to Lemiuex for the first out. Stone then sends a fly ball down the right field line that Rossi catches in foul territory for the second out. But Graf tags on the play and beats the throw to give UVC a 4-3 lead. Schultz singles sharply to left, but is left there when Mitch Graham flies out to left to end the top of the seventh inning.

UVC's Michael Graham takes over on the mound in the bottom of the 8th. The sophomore wastes no time, striking out PC's Greg Thompson for the first out. Rogers then sends a routine grounder to second, that Jacob Lum bobbles for an error. With Rogers on a first, Downey goes down swinging at a breaking ball in the dirt for the second out. Down to their final out, Eric Lemiuex cracks a long double to the gap in left center field, scoring Rogers from first and tying the game at 4-4. With the winning run at second, Michael Rossi draws an intentional walk to set up the force play. On the very next pitch, Graham plunks Ryan Harding in the back to load the bases. For the second time in two innings, PC has the winning run at 3rd with two outs. With Matt Larson at bat, Graham throws the first three pitches inside, prompting UVC coach Dave York to come out and try to help his struggling pitcher. But York's visit doesn't help, as Graham sails a fourth fastball inside to Larson, whose "walk-off walk" giver PC a 5-4 victory.

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Post Game Notes: Both teams feature only four seniors between them, suggesting both teams will be poised to make another run deep into next year's playoffs. PC graduates Greg Thompson, Eric Tolleson and Matt Larson, while UVC says goodbye to only Daniel Schultz. The young Monarchs stand to gain the most from today's tough loss. There is no substitute for championship experience, and this group of UVC players came within an out of taking home the blue trophy. Look out next year, 2A/1A teams ...

The unsung heroes of PC's playoff run have been the 7-8-9 batters: Michael Rossi, Ryan Harding and Matt Larson. Those three were the key to PC's win over SAC and each played a key role in the eighth inning rally, even if it meant taking an intentional walk, getting HBP, and looking at four straight inside pitches ...

PC coach Ryan Miller has described sophomore Vance Downey as having a "rubber arm," which may have stretched an inch or two after 21 innings of playoff pitching in a week. In those three games Downey beat three #1 seeds in order - Salem Academy, Elgin and UVC - whose combined records going into those games was 65-12 ...

Portland Christian pulled off a rare feat for small classification schools by winning both Boys Track and Baseball championships in the same Spring season. The PC Boys also won the 2A basketball title in March ...