Grant Union/Prairie City’s Drew Williams pitches against Lakeview in the OSAA 2A/1A state championship game at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene on Friday, June 3, 2022. Williams was named 2A/1A Special District 6 Pitcher of the Year.

It was a season like no other in Grant Union/Prairie City softball history.

The Lady Pros finished last season as the unofficial No. 2 team in the state following a second-place finish in a tournament not sponsored by the Oregon School Activities Association. They spent this season making it official.

This year, the Lady Pros would win a jaw-dropping 23 games in a row before suffering their first loss — to La Grande — in the final game of the regular season. The team would regroup and roll through the first three rounds of the state tournament, surrendering only one run on their way to the 2A state championship game.

The foe in the title game would be a Lakeview Lady Honker team the Lady Pros had defeated twice earlier in the season. The third contest, however, would go the way of the Lady Honkers, who won a close 5-3 contest that left the Lady Pros as the state runners-up in 2022.

It wasn’t the outcome the team desired, but the season wasn’t a failure by any means. The second-place finish is officially the highest state softball finish in school history. The Lady Pros played four games against teams that went on to win state championships in softball. They won three of them. The team was the only squad to defeat eventual 3A state softball champions Burns this season.

Grant Union seniors Paige Gerry and Paige Weaver and coach Zach Williams looked back on the historic 2022 campaign in an interview with the Eagle.

Q: What was it about this team specifically that enabled you to make the run you did during the regular season and on into the championship game?

Gerry: Our team just had really good chemistry. We all had each other’s backs and we were a solid team. We all trusted each other and knew we could get the job done.

Weaver: I definitely think it has to be our mentality. We’ve all been either playing together or watching each other through Little League ball. We all had that mentality of the team before ourselves. I think everybody did well understanding that. We also had very little drama. This team is just a family. There is no other way to put it. I’ve played softball with a lot of people, and this team is the one I can truly say is my family.

Williams: I think we have a good mix of experience and game experience. The freshmen and sophomores have played hundreds of softball games and have had thousands of at-bats. The upperclassmen may not have as much game experience because they didn’t do as much travel ball, but they worked hard. The girls got along and the leadership was good. They work hard in practice and they do what we ask them to do. Team chemistry is always the wild card. You can be as talented as you want to be, but if the team doesn’t get along and they don’t care about and want to work for each other, you aren’t going to get much out of them. We just had a good mix. The upperclassmen respected the talent of the younger girls, and the lowerclassmen respected the experience and age of the older girls. It just worked.

Q: Is there one moment from the season that you can point to and say that defines the team and this season?

Weaver: For me it would have to be the La Grande game. I was told I wasn’t going to start, and everybody looked at me and told me I’m still a great softball player and that I can still do this. After we lost that game, not a single girl put their head down about that game because we played our hearts out. We probably played one of our best games of the season, and on that day the other team was just better. It was cool to see everybody know that we lost but we’re still a great team.

Gerry: I think the way we handled our first loss really sticks with me. We didn’t get down on ourselves or say that we suck and this is it. We pushed through to the state championship. I think if we had handled that loss in a different way it could’ve affected team chemistry. Nobody was blamed and we played really well, so there was nothing to be upset about.

Williams: Lakeview, game one of the regular season doubleheader. The 3-0 extra-innings win. That’s the kind of team they can be. They played perfect defense; Drewsey threw an excellent game. We struggled, obviously, to hit for nine innings. We kept grinding, and every at-bat was better than the last one. I felt like the Lakeview game that we won 3-0 was where they realized what they could be.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say to the readers or the general public that we haven’t discussed here today?

Williams: The community was so supportive. Those girls look up in those stands and they see hundreds of people from Grant County in Eugene, and it means a lot to them. When we have those home playoff games and the sidelines are lined with people and the outfield is full of people, it’s so amazing. I think everybody, including the payers and coaches, feels like when you go and lose that state championship that you let everybody down. Not many people have played back-to-back state championship games. I realize it wasn’t sanctioned, but we still played everybody in the state last year and ended up in the state championship game. OSAA-sanctioned or not, they accomplished something amazing and they should be proud of it. I hope the community is. My coaching staff deserves a lot of credit. They’re there day in and day out. I’m always the one getting quoted, but they’re the ones there every day with me, helping in the cages and throwing their arms out and keeping the girls together. It’s always sad to finish a year after you’ve gotten to the end and you know it’s so close and you don’t get it.

Gerry: I think that the team that we had this year was amazing. It really was a family. It wasn’t just a team, and we were all one. It was really amazing to have my last year with them.

Weaver: I want to say I really appreciate the community support for this whole team. Even though we went and lost, not a single person was disappointed in us, and that was amazing. I want to say to the girls playing next year that they can go and take it. They just have to be willing to go and take what’s theirs.

3/17/22 vs. Burns W 4-0

3/18/22 @ Kennedy W 15-0

3/19/22 @ Colton W 20-15

3/21/22 vs. Harrisburg/Mohawk W 16-12

3/22/22 vs. Enterprise/Wallowa/Joseph W 12-2

3/23/22 vs. Scio W 14-4

4/1/22 vs Echo/Stanfield (2) W 12-2, W 15-5

4/8/22 @Heppner/Ione (2) W 17-1, W 15-0

4/9/22 vs. Nyssa W 16-1

4/20/22 @ Lakeview (2) W 3-0, W 12-5

4/22/22 @ Elgin/Imbler (2) W 20-3, W 18-2

4/29/22 vs. Union/Cove (2) W 12-2, W 19-1

5/2/22 @ Nyssa W 18-0

5/7/22 vs. Weston-McEwen (2) W 7-6, W 22-9

5/10/22 vs. Baker/Powder Valley W 7-2

5/12/22 @Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii (2) W 15-3, W 18-2

5/17/22 @ La Grande L 6-9

*5/25/22 vs. Bandon W 8-0

*5/27/22 vs. Toledo W 15-0

*5/31/22 vs Nestucca W 11-1

*6/3/22 vs. Lakeview L 3-5

* state playoff game