LCC baseball wins NWAC championship
Lower Columbia baseball beat Lane 12-2 in the NWAC championship game on Monday at David Story Field in Longview to take home their first NWAC title since 2023.
Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help
Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to The Daily News.
"It's indescribable," sophomore Sam Davidson said. "It's an unworldly feeling. The feeling is just beyond measure. To have my number up there on those stands, our team's year up there, is just the greatest gift I've ever seen. We're gonna come back here in 20 years, we're gonna see that, and everybody's gonna remember each other. That's the most special thing about this."
Lower Columbia baseball: Celebration
Lower Columbia baseball players celebrate after winning the NWAC championship on Monday, May 25, at David Story Field in Longview. The Red Devils beat Lane 12-2 in the title game.
It wasn't all fun and games early on. LCC lost its first game of the NWAC tournament against Edmonds on Thursday, immediately falling to the consolation bracket. The Red Devils then rallied off five straight victories to claim the championship.
"It was stressful," LCC coach Kurt Lupinski said. "We took the road less traveled, the hard road to the championship this year. With that said, it just shows you the resiliency that this team has, and that really was an amazing experience."
The Red Devils had six players earn all-tournament honors led by Jaylen Kennedy, who was named the tournament MVP. Harlan Rowe (designated hitter), Keagan Kelly (infield), Davidson (infield), Quinn Hubbs (pitcher), and Matthew Kosderka (relief pitcher) were also selected to the all-tournament team.
Lower Columbia baseball: Jaylen Kennedy
Lower Columbia's Jaylen Kennedy swings his bat during the NWAC tournament semifinals against Linn-Benton on Monday, May 25, at David Story Field in Longview. Kennedy had three hits against the Roadrunners and added four hits, including a double, and two RBIs later in the title game against Lane. The freshman was named the NWAC tournament MVP.
"Great representation on the all-tournament team," Lupinski said. "That was incredible to see. With Kennedy specifically, racking up so many hits, has to play the premier position of catcher, had a massive back pick to essentially win a game for us earlier in the tournament, the guy's stepped up in a lot of ways. He was a mainstay all season."
Down 2-1 through the first two and a half innings in the title game, LCC rallied in the bottom of the third inning, scoring 6 runs to pull away. Davidson and Rowe each hit RBI doubles while Martyn Hernandez hit a 2-run single and Kennedy and Kelly each notched RBI singles.
"We had great ability to take free bases today, took hit-by-pitches, took walks, just kind of making them pitch with runners in scoring position just created a lot of stress for them," Lupinski said. "I think that's really where that crooked number came from. You could just feel that energy and momentum building once we got that 6-spot in that inning. It just really felt like we were clicking on all cylinders."
Lower Columbia baseball: Sam Davidson
Lower Columbia's Sam Davidson swings his bat during the NWAC tournament semifinals against Linn-Benton on Monday, May 25, at David Story Field in Longview. Davidson had three hits and one RBI with a double later in the championship game against Lane.
In the fourth, Rowe hit an RBI single to put LCC ahead 8-2. Kennedy then doubled in the fifth to bring home a run. In the sixth, Kelly and Karsten Hansen each hit RBI singles and Hernandez walked with the bases loaded to round out the scoring for LCC.
The Titans struck first with 1 run in the top of the second inning. The Red Devils countered when Harlan Rowe grounded out for an RBI in the bottom of the frame. Then, Lane homered in the third to go up 2-1 before LCC's big run.
The Red Devils totaled 16 hits in the game, led by Kennedy with four. Davidson had three hits and Kelly and Rowe each registered two. Jackson Wendt, James Cote, and Jackson Noonan also singled for the Red Devils.
Dante Santulli picked up the win on the mound. In three innings of relief work, he struck out four batters and gave up just two hits without surrendering any earned runs. Caden Spanier started for the first three innings, striking out three while giving away two hits and two earned runs. Hayden Line and Brendan Bowyer closed the game out in the final three innings. Neither pitcher gave away any hits or earned runs while the latter struck out one.
LCC also had to get through Linn-Benton first on Monday in the semifinals. The Red Devils took down the Roadrunners 5-1.
In that game, LCC went ahead 1-0 on an RBI single from Wendt in the top of the third inning. Linn-Benton tied the game in the bottom of the fourth, but the Red Devils took the lead back when Kelly hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Cote then smashed a 3-run home run in the ninth to ice the game.
Lower Columbia baseball: James Cote
Lower Columbia's James Cote swings his bat during the NWAC tournament semifinals against Linn-Benton on Monday, May 25, at David Story Field in Longview. Cote hit a 3-run home run during the game.
Kennedy had three hits while Rowe had two for the Red Devils. Kelly and Hernandez also singled in the game.
On the mound, Quinn Hubbs took the win in seven innings, striking out six batters while giving away just two hits. He gave up 1 run, but it was unearned. Rudy Larson came in for two innings of relief work and only gave up one hit.
LCC finished the season with a 44-11 record while claiming the NWAC West and overall NWAC championships.
Stay up to date on Lower Columbia news, wherever you go
Access the latest Lower Columbia news in The Daily News app that lets you select the topics that matter most to you.
"It's gonna be hard to wake up tomorrow and know that the season's over," Lupinski said. "It's the feeling I have every year, it's a little bit of that empty hole. I love coming to work with these guys every day. At least this year, we get to replace a little bit of that emptiness with the memories of being one of the best teams that have ever played and a 16th championship for Lower Columbia."
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 4:29 AM.