The Grant High School baseball team has won the PIL crown following an 11-1 mercy-rule victory over Ida B. Wells on May 19 at home. It’s the Generals first outright PIL title since 2022.

The Generals mashed five home runs while senior pitcher Cooper Yudhishthu shut down the Guardians from the mound with only two hits allowed and and nine strikeouts.

Grant finishes league play with a 13-1 mark while Wells falls to 11-3 in a tie for second place with Lincoln. The Guardians and Cardinals split their season series.

Grant didn’t waste time as Yudhishthu sat down the first three Guardians batters with two strikeouts and a line out.

In the bottom half, senior Kaeden Cruse launched his eighth home run of the season to right field to score two runs.

Fellow senior Diego Martinez Griffin followed right behind with a solo shot to left field to make it 3-0 Generals after the first inning.

Grant added one more run in the second after Rafferty Cruikshank led off with a double and eventually scored on a Brady McCarthy groundout.

Wells went down in order all via strikeout in the third frame, setting up the backbreaking home half for the Generals.

Kruse started it off by bashing a second homer in the game, this one to centerfield to make it 5-0.

Luke Caron got hit by a pitch with two outs and Cruikshank followed that up with a single. Then senior Tre Hoffert hit the fourth Generals home run of the game to score three more and make it 8-0 Grant after three.

Wells went down in order again, a groundout and two more strikeouts for Yudhishthu, and Grant hung up another three spot in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a three-run home run from Grant Snidow.

Wells tried to rally in the top of the fifth with the game on the line, starting with a double from senior Cody Roletto. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout from Cam Hammer.

Yudhishthu struck out the next two batters though to limit the damage to one run and secure the series and PIL title. Grant won game one 3-0 on Friday, May 16 thanks to another gem from junior pitcher Jinki Tomita.

Grant has one more game before the postseason begins on Monday, May 26. The Generals will take on Lakeridge at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 21 on the road.

Wells has two tune up games before it goes into the playoffs. The Guardians will host Lake Oswego at 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 21 and will hit the road at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 22 to take on the two-time defending 4A state champions in Scappoose.

Final PIL standings

1. Grant, 13-1 (18-7 overall)

T2. Wells, 11-3 (17-8 overall)

T2. Lincoln, 11-3 (14-12 overall)

4. Cleveland, 7-7 (9-14 overall)

5. McDaniel, 6-8 (13-12 overall)

6. Jefferson, 5-9 (7-14 overall)

7. Roosevelt, 3-11 (7-19 overall)

8. Franklin, 0-14 (1-25 overall)