Tori Vidales crushed a solo home run to left center field on July 12, breaking a 1-1 tie and sparking the Portland Cascade to a 5-4 win over the Carolina Blaze at Hillsboro Ballpark.

The victory capped a 3-2 home stand for Portland, which swept both games against the Blaze. The Cascade returned to Hillsboro after roughly two weeks on the road.

Vidales, a Texas A&M alumna playing first base, finished 2-for-3 with an RBI. She had struggled at the plate in recent games but credited a mental reset for the breakout.

"I was sitting there yesterday doing my game prep and I was like, wow, I can actually swing so much later than I'm swinging," Vidales told the Beaverton Valley Times after Sunday's game. "So, I was going to try to be late today and I hit a home run."

Relief pitcher Payton Gottshall was equally dominant. She entered for starter Carley Hoover and threw 4.1 shutout innings to lock down the win.

Coach Tairia Flowers praised Gottshall's competitiveness, saying the right-hander "knows how to attack the zone" and "brings people along with her."

Playoff picture

Portland sits in third place in the AUSL standings, two games behind first-place Utah and 2.5 games ahead of fourth-place Oklahoma City Spark, according to the Beaverton Valley Times.

The top three teams in the final standings advance to the postseason, and the 2026 AUSL Championship begins July 25, at Davis Diamond in College Station, Texas.

With four regular-season games left, every result matters. Flowers put it plainly after Sunday's win: "When every team is good, every pitch matters, every call matters, every play matters."

Sellout crowds keep coming

The Cascade's first seven home games at Hillsboro Ballpark all drew sellout crowds. The AUSL has recorded more than a dozen sellouts league-wide this season, according to the Beaverton Valley Times.

What's next

Portland has four regular-season games remaining, running Wednesday, July 15, through Saturday, July 18. Confirmed matchups include the Utah Talons on Thursday, July 16, and the Texas Volts on Saturday, July 18, per the CBS Sports Network schedule. Game times and ticket information for all four games are available at theausl.com.