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QuickTake:
Thurston started the baseball season with a 7-8 mark in its first 15 games, but rallied to advance to the state championship game.
Central pitcher Joe Mendazona dominated Thurston batters, tossing a no-hitter and striking out 14 Colts as the Panthers won the 5A baseball championship, 7-0, Saturday, June 6, at PK Park in Eugene.
Mendazona’s gem marked just the third time that a pitcher has thrown a no-hitter in an Oregon School Activities Association baseball title game.
“He did a great job,” Colts head coach Dennis Minium said of Mendazona’s performance. “Props to him. He came out and competed and kept us off-balance and we didn’t have good at-bats against him today.”
The Colts, seeded No. 8 in the 5A tournament, came into the game batting .349 but couldn’t get a runner past second base. Mendazona struck out nine of the final 12 Colts batters, including all three in the seventh inning, issuing just four walks.
Meanwhile, the No. 6 Panthers collected nine hits and effectively used bunts and sacrifice flies to advance runners. The Colts didn’t help matters by committing an uncharacteristic four errors.
The Thurston Colts stand for a group photo after taking second place to the Central Panthers in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Jackson Lane of the Thurston Colts goes to catch a ball against Santi Alarcon of the Central Panthers in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Luke Blair of the Thurston Colts fields a ball against the Central Panthers during the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Brody Corgain of the Thurston Colts pitches against the Central Panthers during the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Brody Corgain of the Thurston Colts celebrates an out with the ball boy against the Central Panthers in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Levi Woodman of the Thurston Colts celebrates a diving out with his teammate Bryson Bowser against the Central Panthers in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Brody Corgain of the Thurston Colts pitches against the Central Panthers in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Bryson Bowser of the Thurston Colts catches a ball against the Central Panthers during the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
A Thurston Colts player takes a moment in the dugout after the Colts lost 7-0 to the Central Panthers in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Jackson Lane of the Thurston Colts holds the second place trophy after losing to the Central Panthers 7-0 in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Bryson Bowser shares an embrace with Cody Halley of the Thurston Colts after losing to the Central Panthers 7-0 in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
A Central Panthers player jumps onto the dog pile after the Panthers beat the Thurston Colts 7-0 in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
The Central Panthers rush the pitchers mound after beating the Thurston Colts 7-0 and winning the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
JT Girod and Joe Mendazona of the Central Panthers shower head coach Ben Kramer with ice after beating the Thurston Colts 7-0 in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Preston Foreman, 16, cheers for the Central Panthers after they scored a run against the Thurston Colts during the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Levi Woodman of the Thurston Colts fields a ball against the Central Panthers in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Dean Knowles of the Thurston Colts leaves the batters box after striking out in the last inning against the Central Panthers in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
Dean Knowles of the Central Panthers celebrates a strike out against the Thurston Colts during the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA 
The Thurston Colts wave their rally caps during the final at bat against the Central Panthers in the OSAA 5A Baseball State Championship at PK Park in Eugene, June 6, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA
It also didn’t help that senior third baseman Grady Saunders injured a hamstring in the third inning, falling to the turf as he tried to corral a fly ball. Saunders did not return to the game.
Minium said the injury “kind of deflated us, right? You could see his emotions after that happened. He gave everything he had for four years. For him to walk away that way, it was not what he wanted.”
The Panthers opened scoring in the second inning behind singles by Santi Alarcon and Jackson Barba. Owen Petrone bunted to advance the runners and Tyler Olafson’s sacrifice fly drove in Alarcon. Barba scored on a single by Easton Herbert.
The Panthers added four runs in that decisive third inning. Mendazona drew a walk off Colts starter Parker Edwards. Josh Fitts singled and a wild pitch allowed the runners to move ahead. Mendazona scored on a single by JT Girod. Fitts scored on a bunt by Alarcon. Girod scored on a fielding error and Alarcon scored on another sacrifice fly by Olafson.
The Panthers added one more run in the sixth after Larson Cooper singled and then advanced to second on another sacrifice bunt. Cooper scored on a single by Alarcon, assisted by another Colts fielding error.
“Not our best performance today, by any means,” Minium said — but added that he was proud of his team, which was only 7-8 through its first 15 games but rebounded to win 10 straight before falling to Central in the final.
“We battled all year to get here, right?” he said. “So we struggled early. … But I give every single one of those guys props for battling through the injuries early in the year to get where we are right now.”
The Colts finished their season with a 20-11 record. The Panthers, from Independence, won their third 5A state championship and finished with a 24-7 mark.
