Beaverton junior Yandel Salas turns a double play during his team's 5-0 loss to Lake Oswego at Lake Oswego High School on Friday, April 4. (Miles Vance)

The biggest games are yet to come, but the Beavers say they’ll be ready.

Indeed, the Beaverton baseball team – which dropped a 5-0 decision to Lake Oswego in its final non-league game at Lake Oswego High School on Friday, April 4 – promises that there are big things ahead in 2025.

“I think we’re in a good spot,” said Beaverton senior first baseman Dax Teixeira, who went 1 for 2 at the plate and walked once against Lake Oswego. “The boys are growing together a little bit more, and once we figure out a little bit more team chemistry, the boys will start to compete a little bit better, the boys will start to have a little more fun, we’ll be in a great spot and we’ll win some games.”

“We just need to have more team chemistry together, but I think we’re going to do pretty well,” added Beaver sophomore center fielder Chase Austin, who went 2 for 3 at the plate in the loss. “I think we could be number one in our league, actually.”

With the loss, Beaverton saw its one-game winning streak snapped and fell to 3-4 overall. Next up, the Beavers will open Metro League play when they face Southridge in the first game of a three-game series at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, at Southridge High School.

Lake Oswego, meanwhile, snapped its one-game losing streak and improved to 3-6 overall. Next up, the Lakers will play Bend at Vince Genna Stadium at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8.

Lake Oswego was led by junior catcher Carsten Lemon, who went 1 for 3 at the plate with two RBIs and one run scored. Laker senior designated hitter Drew Levin went 1 for 3 with two RBIs, while junior right-hander Merik Adler pitched 6-⅓ innings and allowed no runs on five hits and three walks while striking out four.

The Lakers opened the game with a 1-2-3 effort by Adler in the top of the first inning, then broke through for three runs in the bottom half of the frame. That at-bat was highlighted by Lemon’s one-out, run-scoring double down the left-field line, and three batters later, Levin’s two-run single to center field to make it 3-0.

After that, the Lakers held the upper hand with their defense, with Adler striking out two to defuse a Beaverton threat after the Beavers put Teixeira and senior Jaeden Hartstrom on base with one out. Then, in the second inning, Beaverton sophomore Vincent Worley led off with a single before junior Gavin Snow grounded to third for a double play that defused the threat.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Lakers tacked on two more runs to push ahead 5-0, loading the bases on infield hits by junior Hudson Hammersley, senior Rylan McClaskey and junior Caden Gerritz, then getting back-to-back RBI sacrifice flies from senior Elliott Wear and Lemon.

Adler gave up a pair of singles – to Austin and Teixeira – with one out in the sixth, but escaped unscathed after getting Hartstrom on a fly out and sophomore Cooper Asbury on a ground ball to McClaskey at shortstop.

LO senior second baseman Parker Saefke added two singles and went 2 for 3 at the plate.

“We just need to keep buying into what our coaches are telling us,” Teixeira said. “We need to play as a team, play together, and I think if we do that, I think we’ve got it in the bag.”

“We’ve just got to put it all together and see where we go from there,” Austin added.