Friday night at Portland’s Walker Stadium, the Portland Pickles captured the 2024 West Coast League championship with a 6-5 walkoff win over the Wenatchee AppleSox. This marks the Pickles’ first title in the team’s seven-year WCL history.

With perfect baseball weather and a sellout crowd of 4,387, both teams scored early despite a pair of All-Star starters taking the mound—Portland’s Freddy Rodriguez and Wenatchee’s Garret Ahern—and after three innings the Pickles led 4-3. But from the fourth inning through the eighth, the only scoring came in the top of the six, when Wenatchee’s Kanoa Morisaki singled home Cam Hoiland to tie the contest at four apiece.

Wenatchee’s Max Hartman led off the fateful ninth inning with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored the go-ahead run on James Castagnola’s line-drive double into the right-field corner. Pickles reliever Carter Delaney did escape the inning without further damage, giving Portland a puncher’s chance in the bottom of the ninth.

In his fifth inning of relief work, AppleSox All-Star struck out Pickles leadoff hitter Aaron Barber. Armando Briseño excited the home fans with a single, but Tanner Griffith hit into a fielder’s choice, leaving Portland with a runner on first base and just one out left. Alex Gouveia shot another single through the infield, though, and with a 2-0 count on Riley McCarthy, Griffith and Gouveia pulled off a double steal. McCarthy then walked to load the bases, and Diego Castellanos followed with another walk to force home Griffith and tie the game at 5-5.

That brought Conner Stewart to the plate. With the capacity crowd roaring, Stewart poked a soft ground ball between Wenatchee’s third baseman and shortstop. When neither of them could field the ball cleanly, Stewart reached first base safely as Griffith crossed home plate with the championship-winning run.

In a scene likely never seen in a West Coast League game, thousands of fans streamed onto the field to join in the Pickles’ celebration. So it was some time until Commissioner Rob Neyer was able to present the WCL’s championship trophy to co-owners Alan Miller and Jon Ryan, who then shared the trophy with front-office staff, coaches, and players. And from there the celebration continued, well into the Portland night.

Worthy opponents to the end, the AppleSox had won both the first and second halves in the North Division, leading the North with 35 regular-season wins before first vanquishing the Victoria HarbourCats in their divisional series, then the Bellingham Bells in the one-game North playoff.

Meanwhile, this summer the Pickles won 40 regular-season games, just one fewer than the defending champion Corvallis Knights. After sweeping the Bend Elks to advance in the South bracket, Portland traveled to Corvallis and ended the Knights’ seven-year championship streak with a sharp 4-1 victory.

All of which set up perhaps the most exciting finale in the West Coast League’s 20-year history.