The Portland Cascade came within three outs of reaching the AUSL Championship before the Chicago Bandits rallied for a 6-5 victory in 11 innings Thursday night at Davis Diamond, ending Portland’s inaugural season in the longest game in league history.
Portland jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning when Sydney Stewart doubled home Sierra Sacco-Ferrie before Kenleigh Cahalan followed with an RBI single. Stewart added another run in the fourth, scoring on a two-out RBI single from Tori Vidales to extend the Cascade advantage to 3-0.
Chicago answered with three runs in the fifth to even the score, using a bases-loaded walk by Skylar Wallace before Morgan Zerkle delivered a two-run single.
With the international tiebreaker in effect, Portland regained the lead in the eighth when Sis Bates reached on a Chicago throwing error, allowing the placed runner to score. The Bandits answered in the bottom half on Taryn Kern’s RBI single to force another extra inning.
After both teams were held scoreless in a pitcher’s face-off between Kenzie Brown and Lexi Kilfoyl the ninth and 10th, the Cascade again moved in front in the 11th. Korbe Otis reached on a throwing error that allowed Kendra Falby to score the go-ahead run, giving Portland a 5-4 advantage.
The lead lasted only three batters. Kern tied the game with an RBI double before Ailana Agbayani lined a two-out single down the first-base line to bring home the winning run and send Chicago to the AUSL Championship Series.
Stewart led the Cascade offensively, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored. Sacco-Ferrie and Vidales added RBIs, while Carley Hoover allowed three runs over five innings before Brown took the loss in relief. Portland finished with seven hits but stranded 13 runners and went 2-for-22 with runners in scoring position.
The loss closes the book on Portland’s first AUSL season after the Cascade earned the league’s No. 3 seed and made the franchise’s postseason debut.
Siera Jones is the digital media reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Instagram and X @sieraajones.