The Huskies shut out Elmira in a pickup game Friday afternoon, May 17, on the road in preparation for a trip to the first round of state playoffs at La Grande.
Elmira finished second in the Sky-Em League, said Coach John Best. “We picked them because they’re a playoff team.”
The former conference rival was dealing with a couple of injuries, but the Falcons swept Marist not more than four days before that.
“Our guys were ready to go.”
Going into the playoffs, the Huskies face a question mark.
Best said he hasn’t seen much of La Grande, which makes it hard to read. The Tigers don’t play the same teams.
They play in the Greater Oregon League in eastern Oregon, he said, and it plays games against out-of-state teams during non-league play. The team is always right there in playoffs, finishing second in the state last year.
“They’re going to be a challenge for us,” Best said. “They’re a super well-coached team, (but) it’s kind of hard to get a read on them.”
La Grande is the Greater Oregon League champion, finishing 9-3 in league and 13-8 overall. The Tigers are ranked sixth in the state. La Grande has allowed 104 runs and scored 199 times.
Sweet Home finished second in the Oregon West Conference with a 13-5 league record and 16-9 overall record. The Huskies are ranked 12th in the state. They have scored 188 runs and allowed 136.
If Sweet Home beats La Grande, Best said, the Huskies will probably face North Marion Friday. If Astoria upsets North Marion, Sweet Home will host the next game.
The team is doing well in practices, Best said.
“We’re just doing what we do. We’re just trying to keep improving our skills. If we can play our game, we can play with just about anybody.”
The Huskies have seen a lot of pitchers this season, and they’ve done pretty well against them, Best said. “We’ll be all right if we can stay level-headed and play our game.”
At Elmira, Sweet Home got busy right away on a Zach Luttmer single. Colton Smith doubled to advance Luttmer to third base, and Luttmer crossed the plate on a sac fly by Aiden Tyler to give the Huskies a 1-0 edge in the top of the first inning.
Sweet Home held on and scored two more in the third and fourth innings and then six in the final inning against an error-prone Elmira to close out the win.
Nate Virtue led the Huskies at the plate, going 2-5 with two RBIs and a run. Also hitting were Luttmer, Smith, Travis Thorpe, Gavin Nichols, Nate Jeppsen and Zach Zanona. Tyler recorded to RBIs and a run. Hunter Stockinger had Elmira’s only hit.
Sweet Home pitchers gave up just one hit and two walks among them.
Virtue struck out four in three innings. Smith gave up one hit and a walk while striking out three in two innings. Tyler gave up one walk in a single inning. Zanona closed out the game with two strikeouts.
Three Elmira pitchers gave up four earned runs on eight hits and three walks, with seven strikeouts.
Sweet Home 102 200 6 – 11 8 1
Elmira 000 000 0 – 0 1 6