However, a midseason swoon that saw the Wildcats lose seven of nine games against playoff-contending teams ultimately proved costly.

Wilsonville made a late charge, but finished one game behind Sherwood for the fourth and final state-qualifying spot. The Wildcats (15-11 overall, 12-9 NWOC) sat at 4-7 midway through the league season before winning eight of their final 10 games.

“I would say it was more disappointing this year than it was last year,” coach Matt Kosderka said. “Because I thought we had a better opportunity and better overall talent pool to make it happen. Obviously, it was frustrating because we had so many games in the first part of the season that we should’ve won but didn’t.”

Kosderka pointed toward the Sherwood series in early April as the one that cost his team the most. The Wildcats lost two of the three, but held leads in both games they lost. In the series capper, Wilsonville had a 7-3 fifth-inning lead that ultimately led to a 9-8 loss in nine innings.

With the Bowmen winning the series, they held the crucial tiebreaker over Wilsonville.

“We had most of those games we lost,” Kosderka said. “We had leads and opportunities to win. If we would’ve won one of those, we would’ve had the tiebreaker over them and had that fourth spot, so obviously that hurt us.”

Wilsonville now looks ahead at having to rebuild once again after the loss of 12 seniors, including Chris Nelson, D’Arick Dulin, Jake Jones, Joel Smith, Jon Adrian, Lucas Thompson, Mike Stohr, Nick Marshall, Nick Petrizzi, Tyler Fahlgren, Tyler Pollman and Zach Fogg.

In the NWOC all-league voting, the Wildcats had eight representatives led by Fogg and Petrizzi being named first-team infielders.

Fogg, a third baseman, batted .354 (23 of 65) with two home runs, 18 RBIs, 23 runs scored and 13 stolen bases. Petrizzi, a second baseman who batted leadoff, hit .367 (29 of 79) with 17 RBIs, 30 runs scored and 13 stolen bases.

Wilsonville had four second-team selections, including Jones, Adrian, Marshall and Dulin.

Jones, a pitcher, went 5-3 with a 2.76 ERA, with 50 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings pitched.

Adrian, a first baseman, hit .341 (28 of 82) with one home run, 24 RBIs, 20 runs scored and six stolen bases.

Marshall, a shortstop, hit .352 (31 of 88) with 11 RBIs, 19 runs scored and 15 stolen bases. Dulin, a centerfielder, hit a team-leading .375 (27 of 72) with 13 RBIs, 16 runs scored and 25 stolen bases.

Senior Joel Smith and junior Jordan Hopper were all-NWOC honorable mention pitchers.

Smith was 4-2 with a 3.71 ERA, with 38 strikeouts in 34 innings. Hopper was 3-4 with a 4.47 ERA with 43 strikeouts in a team-high 54 1/3 innings pitched.

“For a team to finish in fifth place, we got eight guys recognized and I think that’s pretty legitimate,” Kosderka said.