64 OregonStater.org KARL MAASDAM, ’93 OUR COMMUNITY B A C K S T O R Y THE HIGH-FIVE LINE BEHIND AN OREGON STATE BASEBALL TRADITION. By Kerry Eggers, ’75 Over the past two decades, Oregon State has played some great baseball, reaching the College World Series seven times, including this past season. And before each game, Beaver baseball has featured a one-of-a-kind tradition. “We called it the ‘high-five line,’” says Michael Gretler, ’18, a starting third baseman from 2016 to 2018, the latter the season the Beavers won their third national championship. It goes like this: Once the starting pitcher warms up, he leaves the bullpen for the playing field, with the starting catcher trailing. On the field, the rest of the pitching staff and the pitching coach wait in line. The pitcher and catcher exchange highfives and hugs with each of them. Once they pass a player, he flips around and follows them. Everyone exchanges a high-five and hug with the rest. Then they proceed to the dugout, where the position players are lined up in single file, waiting to continue the process. Moments later, it’s “Play ball!” The ritual has been going for at least 15 years. “It was probably initiated by a player who was thinking, ‘Let’s jump out there and get the pitcher going,’” says Pat Casey, who coached the Beavers from 1995 to 2018 and won three College World Series crowns. “We probably won the game, and off it went.” What’s the significance? “I feel like it’s the starting pitcher leading the pack, letting his guys know that he is going to compete for them,” says Rich Dorman, who completed his sixth season as Mitch Canham’s pitching coach in 2025. “Oregon State baseball is a family. Our guys truly care about one another. It’s the starter telling his teammates, ‘I’m going to go to war for you,’ and the other guys saying, ‘We’ve got your back. Go get ’em.’” Andrew Moore, ’24, a starting pitcher from 2013 to 2015 and now pitching coach for the Lake County (Ohio) Captains, the Cleveland Guardians’ High-A affiliate, recalls those moments with fondness. “I would get to high-five Ben Wetzler and Max Englebrekt and Matt Boyd and all the guys,” he says. “It became a thing. It got me going. It got us going.” Sometimes it gets a little rowdy. “When Jake Thompson was pitching, he liked to go full speed on the hug, like he was a fullback,” says Anderson, a starting outfielder from 2016-18. “He would really go for it.” Last season, some players added pre-arranged handshakes, too. “A lot of the pitchers started to do that this year,” says Wilson Weber, starting catcher on the Beavers’ 2025 squad. “Guys have different handshakes with other guys. Dax [Whitney] and Nelson [Keljo] had a certain handshake. Dax and [Ethan] Kleinschmit had a different one and a special hug.” The Beavers’ high-five line was unique in college baseball, at least at first. Dorman says in the past two seasons, he has seen other teams try to replicate it. “I always looked over and thought, ‘I don’t think any other teams do this,’”Anderson says.“It was a very cool thing. Every player wanted to do it. It never felt forced. It was super fun. Every time I see [OSU players do] it now, I think about the continuity and the brotherhood that keeps rolling along.” ↓ Second baseman AJ Singer slaps hands as he goes through the Beavers’ “high-five line.”
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