Sweet Home held off a last-inning rally to beat Philomath 11-7 at home Monday afternoon, April 1, in the first of a three-game series.
“We played really well for six innings,” said Coach John Best. The Huskies helped Philomath score four runs in the seventh on walks and hit-by-pitch calls.
“Colton (Smith) threw really well today,” Best said. “I think he’s starting to come into his own. Velocity was up. Locations were good.
“They’re a well coached team. They’re tough.” he said of Philomath. “I think it’s going to be between us Philomath and Newport, so that was a big win for us. Now we just have to respond in Game Two, put up some offensive numbers.”
Smith opened the game striking out Michael Slater. The next two batters grounded out, and the Huskies went to work at the plate.
Nate Virtue lined out to left field, but Zach Luttmer singled on a shot to right field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Smith singled on a ground ball to shortstop advancing Luttmer to third. Luttmer scored on a sacrifice fly by Aiden Tyler, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead going into the second inning.
In the bottom of the third, Smith doubled on a line drive to right field to score Virtue, who doubled to reach base, and Luttmer, who singled. Smith scored on a single by Travis Thorpe, giving the Huskies a 4-0 edge.
Philomath put two runs on the board on a single, error, single and a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth and then put on another run in the top of the fifth. Sweet Home piled on five more runs in the bottom of the fifth and then scored two more times in the bottom of the sixth to lead 11-3.
Pitching in relief for Sweet Home in the top of the seventh, Zach Zanona gave two walks, struck out a batter then walked another, loading bases for the Warriors.
He struck out another batter but walked the next, giving up a run.
Virtue subbed in on the mound at that point, but gave up another walk and hit two batters, giving up another three runs.
The next batter, Slater, popped out to Virtue, ending Philomath’s rally and the game.
Sweet Home collected 12 hits, led by Luttmer who went 3-4 with an RBI and two runs, Smith who went 2-3 with two RBIs and two runs and Tyler who went 2-3 with an RBI and a run. Thorpe went 2-4 with two RBIs and a run. Virtue, Nate Jeppsen and Zanona each had hits, each with an RBI.
Dylan Bennett led at the plate for Philomath, going 2-2 with an RBI and two runs.
On the mound, Smith struck out 10 batters and gave up ix hits, two walks and one earned run. Relieving Smith in the seventh inning, Zanona gave up four walks and four earned runs, striking out two. Relieving Zanona with two outs on the board in the seventh, Virtue gave up one walk.
For Philomath, Marshall Brattain gave up 11 hits, three walks and seven earned runs while striking out two. In relief, Brandon Vogler gave up a hit, a walk and no earned runs with two strikeouts.
Sweet Home will travel to Philomath Wednesday and host Philomath at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The Huskies host Stayton at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
Sweet Home is 4-0 in league and 6-3-1 overall. The Huskies are sixth in OSAA rankings. Seventh-ranked Philomath is 3-1 and third place in league, while 10th-ranked Newport is 3-0 and second place in league.
Philomath 000 210 4 – 7 6 4
Sweet Home 103 052 x – 11 12 3
The Huskies gave up most of an early 10-2 lead against Marshfield and then held on to win 12-11 as Marshfield piled on nine runs in the next three innings, March 26, of a tournament at Hidden Valley High School.
Sweet Home tied 4-4 with Hidden Valley and defeated Sutherlin 5-3 on March 25.
“It was a good tournament for us,” Best said. “We saw some good pitching. I thought our team played really well all weekend.”
Games were limited to two hours, and Hidden Valley was called because of darkness.
In the final game of the tournament, Marshfield opened the game three up, three down.
Virtue reached base on an error at third, stole second and scored on a Luttmer ground ball to right field. The Huskies scored eight more times on two walks; singles from Gavin Nichols, Cole Mizsei, Terron Kopperud, Luttmer and Smith; and a triple by Virtue.
In the top of the third, trailing 10-2 with two outs, Marshfield scored seven runs on five singles, a double and an error to close to within a run of Sweet Home.
Sweet Home scored twice more in the bottom of the third, and Marshfield scored the final two runs of the game in the top of the fifth.
Luttmer went 3-4 with two RBIs, three runs and a triple to lead the Huskies at bat. Virtue went 2-4 with two RBIs, two runs and a triple.
Marshfield 027 02x x – 11 10 2
Sweet Home 912 0xx x – 12 11 3
Hidden Valley scored a run in the second inning to take the lead in the second game of the tournament.
In the top of the third inning, Luttmer singled and scored on a single by Smith to tie the game 1-1.
Hidden Valley scored again in the bottom of the third to go ahead 2-1, but Sweet Home tied it up again in the top of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, Nichols singled on a line drive to right field. Austin Olin sent a line drive to left field to advance Nichols. Jeppsen scored both on a ground ball to second base.
Hidden Valley scored two on a pair of singles and a double to tie the game 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth.
Jeppsen led Sweet Home at the plate, going 2-3 with two RBIs. Virtue also went 2-3, and the Huskies collected 10 hits across the lineup.
Smith struck out six batters, giving up eight hits, four walks and three earned runs for Sweet Home.
“That was probably one of our more complete games, offensively, defensively, pitching,” Best said. “We played very well against a very tough opponent.”
Sweet Home 001 120 x – 4 9 1
Hidden Valley 011 020 x – 4 8 2
With two outs, Sutherlin scored its first run on two errors and a single in the top of the second inning during the first game of the tournament.
Sweet Home took the lead in the bottom of the third inning. Luttmer walked, Smith singled on a line drive to score Luttmer. Tyler advanced Smith on a single. Nichols advanced both on an error, and Olin walked to score Smith.
Sweet Home scored again in the fourth. Sutherlin walked twice and singled twice to score two runs and tie the game 3-3 in the top of the fifth.
Taking back the lead, Thorpe reached on an error at third base but was out advancing on a fielder’s choice from Nichols. Olin doubled to score Nichols, and Jeppsen singled, scoring Olin on the throw.
Olin led the Huskies at bat, gong 2-2 with two RBIs and a run. Smith, Tyler and Jeppsen also each had a hit, Smith and Jeppsen each with an RBI and Smith with a run.
“The Sutherlin club, we knew they were going to be scrappy and tough, and we saw what they think is their number one pitcher,” Best said. “He threw pretty well against us. That was a 5-3 victory.”
Sutherlin 010 020 x – 3 5 5
Sweet Home 002 12x x – 5 5 2