Sweet Home split a doubleheader in baseball with Elmira, winning 7-5 and losing 7-5, May 2 on the road.
The Huskies are 8-4 in league and 13-5 overall and in second place in the Sky-Em League after the games. With 7-5 records, Cottage Grove is tied with Junction City for third place, while Sisters is in first place with a record of 11-1. Sisters has lost just one game all year – to Cottage Grove.
Elmira is 2-10 and in fifth place, and Sutherlin, 1-11, is sixth.
League play could finish several different ways, said Coach John Best. The Huskies were scheduled to play at Sisters Tuesday and Cottage Grove in a doubleheader on Wednesday. They need one win against Cottage Grove to lock down second place and win a home game in the play-in round of state playoffs.
Sweet Home also has a non-league game scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Monday at home against Blanchet Catholic.
Sweet Home 7, Elmira 5
“They were good,” Best said. “We didn’t play great. We played fine, we just let them hang around, both games. We hit the ball pretty well.”
The Huskies grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning and added another run in the second. Elmira scored three runs to tie the game in the bottom of the second, but the Huskies pulled away with another run in the third. Elmira went ahead 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth, and the Huskies tied the game 5-5 in the fifth before closing it out with two runs in the final inning.
Colton Smith led hitting with three, including a double. Keegan Holly hit the ball three times. Kobe Olson and Nate Virtue each had two singles. Collecting a single hit were Daniel Virtue, Keanu Aiona, Devin Stafford and Nick Marler.
For Elmira, Richard Estrella had a big double in the first inning to score two runners.
Daniel Virtue pitched a complete game for the Huskies, giving up 10 hits and five runs, two of them earned. He gave up no walks and struck out four batters. One batter was hit by a pitch.
For Elmira, Davis pitched 5 1/3 innings. Smith pitched in relief.
Sweet Home 211 010 2 – 7 14 1
Elmira 030 200 0 – 5 10 3
Elmira 7, Sweet Home 5
Two early errors hurt the Huskies quite a bit, Best said, allowing two runners to reach base.
Elmira scored six runs in the first two innings to lead 6-0. The Huskies didn’t score until a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Both teams added another run in the fifth inning, and the Huskies scored another pair in the final inning.
“We tried crawling back,” Best said, and Sweet Home was close. At the end of the game, the tying run was on second base.
With 11 hits on the game, “we left a lot of people on” base, Best said. Elmira had just five hits, but “when they got somebody on, they scored.”
Daniel Virtue and Stafford led the Huskies at the plate, each with a single and a double. Austin James hit a double, and Aiona and Smith each had two hits. Holly and Jon Elder each had a hit.
On the mound, Smith started and struggled early, Best said. He gave up three walks and two batters hit by pitch, five hits and five earned runs. He struck out seven batters.
Kalikau pitched five innings for Elmira. Smith relieved him in the final two, with Estrella closing out the game in the seventh.
Sweet Home 000 210 2 – 5 11 3
Elmira 330 010 0 – 7 5 1