Sweet Home picked up its first loss of the season in baseball 11-6 in eight innings against Scappoose after beating Pleasant Hill 7-4.
“That was really tough,” said Coach John Best. “We felt like we should’ve won.
“Overall, that was a really good win against Pleasant Hill. I think we’re in a good spot.”
He’s hoping the team learns from the loss, learns from the mistakes against Scappoose and uses it to win more games.
The Huskies are 3-1 overall and ranked 12th in statewide rankings.
They traveled to Newport for a three-game tournament facing Henley, North Bend and Newport Tuesday and Wednesday.
Henley is always among the top two or three teams in the state, Best said, and North Bend was a league champion last year.
“It should be a good test for us,” Best said. “We’ll know what we have.”
League starts on the road April 3 at Sutherlin.
Scappoose 11, Sweet Home 6
At home Thursday, Sweet Home was ahead of Scappoose 6-5 going into the seventh inning, Best said, “then they scored a run.”
Scappoose built an early lead, scoring a run in the first inning and then three in the second. The Huskies answered with a single run in the third, trailing 4-1.
Down 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Huskies scored four runs to tie the game when Nick Marler singled to score Colton Smith. Zach Luttmer reached on an error at shortstop, while Austin James and Travis Thorpe scored. Gavin Nichols singled to score Marler and tie the game 5-5.
The Huskies went ahead when Thorpe singled to score Nathan Virtue.
In the top of seven, Keegan Holly walked Nicky Gill, who advanced to third on a passed ball. Carson Witt singled to score him and tie the game 6-6.
The Huskies had a golden opportunity to score in the seventh inning, with a runner on second, but blew it, he said, sending the game into an extra inning.
In the eight inning, the Huskies gave up a double on a fly ball to center field followed by a ground ball single to first base. Scappoose started scoring on an error and a pair of walks.
Colton Smith walked to start the bottom of the final inning, advancing to third base on two outs. Marler struck out swinging to end the game.
“Scappoose is a pretty good team, and they’re having a pretty decent year too,” Best said of the Indians (5-2), who are ranked fourth in 4A this week. Sweet Home (3-1) is 13th.
Colton Smith started out on the mound for the hosts, pitching five innings, giving up four hits, five walks and five runs, three of them earned, while striking out four batters.
Holly pitched relief, giving up five hits, four walks and six runs, three of them earned. He struck out four. Terron Kpperud relieved him in the eighth inning to strike out the final batter.
The Scappoose pitching staff gave up nine hits, six balls and six runs, three of them earned while striking out eight Huskies.
At bat, Nichols, Marler and Smith each had two hits. Zach Zanona, Virtue and Thorpe each had one hit. Luttmer had two RBIs. Smith, Marler, Nichols and Thorpe each had one RBI.
Quincey Cleveland led Scappoose at bat, going 2 for 4 with a double and batting in two runners.
Scappoose 130 010 15 – 11 9 3
Sweet Home 001 041 00 – 6 9 3
Sweet Home 7, Pleasant Hill 4
Pleasant Hill jumped out to two runs in the first inning in Sweet Home on March 21. The Billies added another pair of runs in the third inning to build a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third, the Huskies scored seven runs on three hits – by Fisher Anders, Thorpe and Luttmer – to get the win.
The Huskies reached base on a pair of hit batters, and Travis Thorpe had the key hit, batting in two runners on a single, Best said. The third baseman bobbled it, “And before you know it, we had a seven-run inning.”
At bat, the Huskies had just the three hits all game, while Luttmer, Smith, Marler and James each had an RBI.
Braden Williamson led Pleasant Hill going 3-3 at the plate.
Zanona started on the bump, giving up five hits, two walks and four earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. Fisher Anderson pitched the remainder of the game, giving up three hits and striking out two batters in 4 1/3 innings and collecting the win.
Pleasant Hill pitchers gave up three hits, one walk and seven runs, two of them earned, while striking out one batter.
Pleasant Hill 202 000 0 – 4 8 3
Sweet Home 007 000 x – 7 3 1