A senior in his final go-round with Philomath High’s baseball program, Grant Niemann could visualize the possibility of winning the game with one swing of the bat.
Two on, two out and the Warriors down by two against Stayton in the bottom of the seventh.
Gallery: PHS baseball vs. Stayton (April 24, 2025)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 12-11 baseball win over Stayton on Thursday.
“That’s a moment you dream of as a kid,” said Niemann, whose childhood home is just under a half of a mile by foot from his front door to home plate. “And for it to come true, it’s just unbelievable.”
Niemann hit his first-ever high school home run to straightaway center field to lift Philomath to a dramatic come-from-behind 12-11 victory Thursday evening over Stayton.
“In the on-deck circle, I knew I had an opportunity to walk it off and I was kind of manifesting it,” Niemann said. “It’s a surreal feeling.”
Stayton had a six-run lead going into the bottom of the sixth before the Warriors rallied for five runs to cut their deficit to one. The Eagles then padded the lead with three more runs in the top of the seventh.
In fact, Niemann was on the mound during Stayton’s late push in relief of starting pitcher Wylie Griffith.
“They got some hits that I felt were a little lucky and it was making me frustrated,” he said. “I just tried to stay in the zone and make them earn it.”
The situation looked bleak for the home team with the visitors only three outs away from notching their first conference victory.
“We always find a way to win,” Niemann said.
Senior Brady Russell began the inning by working a walk. Sophomore AJ Altishin, who hit a two-run homer earlier in the game, then poked a single to right field. After a strikeout, the Warriors loaded the bases with Griffith walking on five pitches.
The brought up the top of the lineup with junior Rocco De La Rosa ready to take his swings. He put the ball in play to the right side but it was misplayed by Stayton’s second baseman. Russell and Altishin both scored to cut the Eagles’ lead down to 11-9.
Another strikeout followed but De La Rosa moved up with a stolen base to get two base runners into scoring position. A single could tie the game.
“I knew if we could get an opportunity with some guys on base to either tie it or go ahead, especially with the middle of our order coming up, I felt pretty good about our chances to at least tie it,” PHS coach Levi Webber said. “But man, to hit a walk-off home run like that is pretty special stuff.”
Niemann’s shot came on a 1-0 pitch — a fastball down the middle.
“I was super proud of Grant to come up in that situation and to make sure he got a pitch that he could drive and he put a good swing on it,” Webber said. “Just with the way the day was going, you know, with the way the wind’s blowing, the ball was flying.”
Stayton seemed destined to salvage the third game of the Oregon West Conference series after scoring three runs with no outs in the top of the first inning. Junior Mason Silbernagel led off with a triple and then scored on a single by senior Kaden Arnold. Junior Colton Connally followed with a two-run shot to left-center.
By the end of the third inning, Stayton had a 6-0 lead, thanks in part to another two-run home run — that one off the bat of senior Hudson Hughes.
The Warriors finally got something going in the fourth on Altishin’s home run, which cleared the left-field fence and represented his first-ever high school dinger. But Stayton held its ground and was up 8-2 after adding single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Senior Grady Salisbury hit a solo home run to left-center during that stretch.
Altishin and senior Joe Barnes hit back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the sixth and Griffith followed with a hard-hit ground-rule double to left field. Altishin scored but Barnes had to be held up at third. Still, a positive vibe filled the evening air with Philomath’s bats finally coming alive against Stayton’s Connally.
When De La Rosa walked to load the bases, Stayton’s coach felt the need to make a change on the mound.
Junior Caleb Babcock hit a grounder to the first baseman, who immediately threw home to force out Barnes at the plate. With the bases still loaded, Niemann followed and hit a ball up the middle that appeared to be in the sights of Stayton’s second baseman. But the ball took a lucky bounce over his head and ended up in center field. On what could’ve possibly been a double-play ball, Niemann ended up on second while two runs scored.
Senior Kayson Olsen followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Babcock and move Niemann to third. Philomath then scored another run when Stayton’s pitcher balked. Niemann trotted home to cut the lead to 8-7.
The inning ended with a strikeout but the Warriors were back in the game. Webber felt fairly good about the situation.
“Up and down our lineup, I have just a lot of confidence in these guys,” Webber said. “Because one, they’ve all had a ton of experience — they’ve all played a lot of games and they all put in the work. And two, they bought into just having a good solid approach to working the middle of the field, putting barrels on baseballs and just making sure we compete in every at-bat.”
Stayton scored those three runs in the top of the seventh to extend its lead to 11-7. But Philomath had the last laugh with the late rally.
“We just keep competing and find a way to get guys on base … with Grant putting the cherry on top and dropping one over the center-field fence,” Webber said. “Just an awesome, awesome effort of just competing to the last out. We talk about compete for 21 on offense and compete for 21 on defense. And you know, you never know what can happen in baseball.”
Philomath (13-2-1 overall, 6-0 Oregon West) swept its second straight series to open league play. The Warriors will try to keep the magic going next week with a three-game set against Cascade (6-7, 2-4) — the Monday and Thursday games on the road and the Wednesday contest at Terry Stephenson Field.
