Postgame quotes: River's Donohue, Cass reflect on special season

Transcripts of interviews with Columbia River following the Chieftains’ 9-1 loss to Enumclaw on Saturday in a 3A state baseball third-place contest at Safeco Field in Seattle.

Columbia River coach Stephen Donohue

On losing to Enumclaw:

We were kind of out of pitching. I think that might have had a little more to do with it. We didn’t play super-clean defense, either. But I think we gave everything yesterday and didn’t have too much today. And we played hard, don’t get me wrong. But it’s tough, no matter how old you are, to come back from something like that. And then to have to play at 10 a.m. was kind of tough, too.

Enumclaw’s got a good team. I know they’re young. I’m sure they’re probably going to be up here a couple more times. They have some talented players for sure.

On River’s season:

This is the funnest team — I’ve been coaching, what, eight years? And this is by far the best team I’ve ever been with. They’ve got a lot to be proud of. When coach … came here … he put a goal in place: By the time they were seniors, to dogpile at Safeco. We came up a little bit short. But we made it to Safeco. Only four teams out of — I don’t even know how many are in 3A. So, yeah, they had a tremendous season. Gave everything they had for three years. The article that (The Columbian) did in the paper the other day kind of summed up our ballclub. One big family. Everyone pulling for each other all the time. And it was a tremendous season.

On making it to Safeco:

Absolutely. It was a great time. We had a lot of fun. Stayed at the hotel right across the street from Safeco. Real nice rooms over there, so it made ’em feel like big leaguers for a couple days. It’s a tremendous experience. I played high school ball in Oregon. We play at Salem-Keizer. Playing here is incredible. It’s something I’ll always remember. And I’m sure even more for the kids that got to play.

That game yesterday, I’ve probably had 20 people tell me this morning since I’ve been here that was one of the greatest high school games they’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, we lost. I’m not over it yet. But a couple weeks gone by, I’ll probably appreciate the kind of effort that we gave and Camas gave.

Trevor Cass

On looking back on the season:

Getting to this point was basically a dream come true for everyone. At the beginning of the season, our main goal was getting to Safeco. And then from there, it’s just whoever’s the best team. So, we accomplished our goal and did what we practiced everyday to do. And with 16 seniors, it’s all a family to us. We have no captains. Everyone’s just helping each other out. It’s all just brothers to us. And definitely coming to Safeco with this group of guys, you can’t ask for anything more.

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