Sweet Home’s softball team will travel to Henley Wednesday, May 25, in the first round of state playoffs after beating North Bend 13-3 .
The play-in round game ended under the 10-run rule in six innings.
Every player in the lineup collected a hit on the way to the win.
“It went really well,” said Coach Shane Cochran. “We came out hitting the ball in the first inning. We did have one flat inning, which you’re going to have.”
Marissa Kurtz made a couple of key catches, including a running catch to end North Bend’s first at bat, he said.
Helped by a Huskies error in each, North Bend finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth and sixth innings.
Cochran said he “just called a timeout and got our composure back.
Looking forward to Henley, Cochran is confident his team can compete.
Brianna Hoffman’s “pitching’s coming around really good, which is going to be a big key in Henley,” Cochran said.
Henley has two good pitchers, one of them former Sweet Home resident Mackenzie Virtue, now a senior, who moved to Klamath Falls following her sophomore year.
The Hornets also have two really good hitters, he said. Henley’s defense is really good.
“We know what their pitchers throw for the most part,” Cochran said, and the Huskies know how fast they throw. Their practices are focusing on hitting those pitches.
“Basically, we’re going to be working on our hitting and hopefully increase the number of our hits by at least a couple. Right now, everybody’s hitting. Everybody’s getting base hits.”
The Huskies will need to keep it up and keep their base running aggressive, he said. “We’re going to be looking for Ally Tow to be hitting well.”
Fourth in the lineup, she’s a key, he said, and Makenna Melbye will need to do the same thing. She’s on a 7-11 hitting streak right now.
“Those two girls are hitting well,” Cochran said.
The first three batters are Britney Zook, Sarita Zanona and Madi Barringer.
They’re gong to get on base, Cochran said. “We’ll score a lot of runs.”
Sydney Mayer has been coming on strong at bat too, Cochran said, and she’ll be another key player against Henley.
The Huskies match up well against Henley, Cochran said. “We just have to keep our hitting up like we’re doing.
“It’s all going to be tough from here on out. We can’t be making errors. We have to hit the ball well, and we have to run the bases well. We all fell really good, really confident.”
With such a young team, Cochran said, it’s hard to predict where they’ll end up, Cochran said, but this team has ended up doing well.
“We just kept getting better,” he said. “We’re still getting better. We’re peaking at the right time.”
One of the biggest keys to the team’s success this season is “our team dynamics,” Cochran said. “And how well the girls get along and feed off each other.”
Henley finished the season as champion of the Skyline Conference. Fifth in the Oregon Student Activities Association rankings, Henley finished with a record of 15-0 in league and 23-3 overall.
The Huskies are ranked 13th by the OSAA. They finished the season with a record of 13-2 in league and 20-6 overall. On the way, they defeated sixth-ranked Elmira on the road during league play. Elmira’s only other loss all year was a post-league game to 6A McNary High School in Keizer
Against North Bend, Hoffman opened the game striking out North Bend’s first batter. The next two batters went out on fly balls.
The Huskies took the lead in the top of the first inning and never looked back. Zook struck out to start the inning, but Zanona reached base on a walk. Barringer was hit by the pitch and walked, advancing Zanona to second.
Ally Tow hit a line drive to center field, loading the bases. Zanona scored on the throw, and barringer advanced to third base. Melbye sent a line drive to left field to score Barringer and advance Tow to third base.
Leading 2-0, Hoffman grounded out to second base, but Tow scored and Melbye advanced to third.
Kurtz reached base on an error at shortstop, and Melbye scored Sweet Home’s fourth run. Sydney Mauer grounded out to third, ending the inning.
With the Huskies leading 4-0, no one scored in the second. The Huskies piled it on in the third inning, scoring a pair of runs and then three more in the fifth to lead 9-0.
A couple of Huskies errors in the fifth and sixth helped North Bend reach scoring position.
North Bend scored a run in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Kadie Forderer singled to left field, scoring Arianna Campbell. Cheyenne Datan grounded out to shortstop to end North Bend’s at bat.
Zook walked to open the fifth inning for the Huskies. She stole second and third and then scored when Zanona grounded out to second base.
With the Huskies ahead 10-1 in the top of six, North Bend’s Madilynn Krossman singled to score Drew Culver, and Campbell singled to score Carlie Paquette, closing the Huskies lead to 10-3. Melbye caught a fly ball from Skylar Lucas in foul territory to end North Bend’s chances.
In the bottom of six, Hoffman singled, and Kennedi Waldrop entered the game as a courtesy runner. Kurtz reached base on a fielder’s choice, and Waldrop was forced out at second.
Mauer singled to advance Kurtz, and Kurtz advanced to third and Mauer to second on a wild pitch. Kurtz scored on an error at third base, and Bitter reached on a walk.
Leading 11-3, Mauer advanced to third and Bitter to second on a wild pitch. Zook struck out, then Zanona singled and batted in Mauer. Bitter advanced to third and scored the game-ending run on a wild pitch.
At bat, Barringer, Melbye and Mauer each collected two hits. Zook, Zanona, Tow, Hoffman, Kurtz and Bitter each had a hit. Going 2-2,
Barringer hit a double and scored two runs. Zook had a run and an RBI. Zanona had a run and two RBIs. Tow scored a run and had an RBI. Melbye scored three runs with an RBI. Hoffman had an RBI. Kurtz scored twice. Mayer scored once and had two RBIs, and Bitter scored a run.
Culver and Campbell each had two hits to lead North Bend at bat.
Pitching, Hoffman gave up seven hits, a walk and three runs, none of them earned. She struck out six North Bend batters.
For North Bend Datan gave up 12 hits, seven walks and 13 runs, 11 of them earned. She struck out five Huskies.
North Bend 000 012 – 3 7 3
Sweet Home 402 313 – 13 12 2
Sweet Home 9,
Blanchet Catholic 4
The Huskies defeated Blanchet Catholic 9-4 in a post-league game at home on May 17.
Sweet Home started building a lead immediately, leading 5-0 after three innings. They added two more runs each in the fourth and fifth innings. Blanchet scored four runs in the sixth inning.
At bat, Barringer, Tow, Melbye and Bitter each hit the ball twice. Zanona and Mauer each had a hit.
From the circle, Hoffman gave up three hits, four walks and one earned run to Blanchet. She struck out five. Pitching in relief in the seventh inning, Ally Tow gave up three walks and three earned runs.
For Blanchet, Heather Arp gave up 10 hits, no walks and nine runs, four of them earned. She struck out six.
Blanchet 000 004 0 – 4 3 4
Sweet Home 131 220 x – 9 10 2