It was necessary for Keynan Middleton to complete the task he began with the Putnam boys basketball team.
As an assistant to head coach Ali Mihub, Middleton, a relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, oversaw the Kingsmen’s morning workouts starting in October and sat on the bench for the first two and a half months of the regular season.
The contract was set to expire when Middleton departed for spring training at the end of Northwest Oregon Conference play, but the Cardinals promised the eight-year MLB veteran that he could return to Oregon and help the team try to win its first trophy since 1990 if Putnam advanced to the 5A state tournament and Middleton wasn’t scheduled to throw during those dates.
With a victory over South Albany in the state round of 16, the Kingsmen punched their ticket to Linfield University.
Earlier on March 6, they overcame a 17-point deficit to upset North Eugene 61-57 in overtime. Middleton relieved the Houston Astros for one scoreless inning the next day. Not long afterward, he was traveling from Florida to Oregon via plane.
After losing to Wilsonville and Woodburn back-to-back, Putnam finished in fifth place, but Middleton was happy to have finished the trip he started in October.
