Sweet Home opened its softball season with a 4-3 loss at Newport Saturday after losing under the 10-run rule at Dayton Thursday.
The Huskies are 0-2 heading into a four-game week. They were scheduled to travel this week to Cascade on Monday, Stayton Tuesday and Pleasant Hill Wednesday; to host Siuslaw Friday at 4:30 p.m.; and then to travel to a Spring Break tournament in Bend March 27-28.
Newport 4, Sweet Home 3
“It was a tight game,” said Coach Karyn Hartsook.
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the second inning and then extended that to 3-0 in the third.
The Huskies scored in the top of the fourth when Allison Miner reached home after a stand-up double by Madi Barringer, Hartsook said. Miner had reached base on an error.
Newport scored another run in the bottom of five to take a 4-1 lead, and the Huskies couldn’t climb out of the hole.
They took a shot at it as Miner doubled to reach base and Barringer knocked her in with a second double. Torree Hawken sent Barringer home to get the Huskies within a run of Newport.
“They struggled with their first at-bat,” Hartsook said of her team, but they put it together afterward to score those runs. They were mentally focused “and got their job done.”
At bat, Sunhee Bitter and Walker also had singles.
After the loss at Dayton, “we had a great practice on Friday,” Hartsook said, noting that the girls are young this year and some of them are playing new positions. “We went back to our game. They performed at a better level (Saturday). Our hitting’s coming right along. Their mental game has come up.”
Freshman Ashtyn Walker threw the first three innings against Newport, her second high school varsity outing, striking out two batters and giving up a walk, four hits and three runs.
Sarita Zanona pitched the last four innings, striking out two and giving up three walks, a hit and a run.
For Newport, Skyler Szabo struck out five, giving up no walks, six hits and three runs.
Because the game was rescheduled due to rain, Ally Tow, Makenna Melbye and Kylie Armstrong were unable to play that day.
Sweet Home 000 102 0 3 6 0
Newport 012 010 x 4 5 2
Dayton 13, Sweet Home 1
Hartsook said her team displayed a lot of first-game jitters heading into a game against a 3A team that placed second in the state last year and won the championship the year before.
It’s a team that plays up against larger schools to be better, she said.
Dayton took an early lead, scoring a run in the first and three in the second inning.
“I still feel like we were in a position to come back,” Hartsook said. That changed in the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the top of the fourth, Sydney Mauer scored a run for the Huskies when Kylie Armstrong hit a fly ball and reached base on a Dayton error.
But the Huskies committed four errors of their own in the bottom of the inning, giving up two walks and four singles, as Dayton scored nine runs to seal the win.
With just one batter walking, Hawken, the Huskies weren’t able to get anything going in the top of the fifth, and the game ended under the 10-run rule.
At bat, Miner hit a double, and Barringer singled. Kylee Hill led at bat for Dayton, collecting a triple and a single.
On the rubber, Walker pitched the first three innings. She walked three batters and gave up eight hits and 11 runs. Zanona pitched part of the fourth inning, giving up no hits, two runs and two walks. She struck out one.
Haley Couch threw four innings for Dayton, giving up two hits, a run and three walks and striking out two batters. Ani Hiedt pitched the final inning and gave up a walk.
Sweet Home 000 10 – 1 2 6
Dayton 130 9x – 13 6 2