The Huskies capped off their roughest week of the baseball season, losing 12-2 at home Friday against Elmira.
Sweet Home scored in the bottom of the first when Austin Rice doubled to reach base and Justin Rice doubled to score him. Elmira scored in the top of three, but the Huskies took the lead again on a steal home by Colton Holly. Elmira scored three runs in the fifth to take a lead it wouldn’t give up. Elmira scored eight more runs in the seventh.
The loss followed a 3-2 loss to Junction City and 5-1 loss to Cottage Grove earlier in the week.
“The talent’s there,” said Coach Matt Matuszak. “For some reason, we’re not closing out games. We’re just not getting bounces to go our way.”
The Huskies are hitting and pitching well, he said, but defense is shaky.
One inning, the team falls apart and doesn’t get the job done, Matuszak said. In all but one game the Huskies have lost, they held the lead.
“Every time, it’s been defensive lapses,” he said. Even at Cottage Grove, when the Huskies never led, it was defensive lapses.
The Huskies allowed only a single hit but none of the runs were earned, he said. “If we were playing better defense, we’d have a much better record.
“The important thing is our kids are out there having a lot of fun, enjoying the game of baseball and working hard. That’s what I’ve been so proud of.”
The Huskies, 1-5 in league and 6-9 overall, have all but lost the chance to win the league championship, but they’re still fighting for a playoff spot. They are sixth in league behind Cottage Grove and La Pine, each with a 2-4 record. They must reach fourth to have a shot at playoffs.
In the meantime, this week’s schedule is against the top two teams in the league, with a game scheduled at Elmira, 4-2, Tuesday. They will travel to Sisters, 6-0, on Friday and host Sisters on April 23.
When this team turns it around again, it’ll be tough to beat, Matuszak said. “I’d hate to be the team that plays us in the first round of playoffs.”
What the Huskies can do will be surprising to the unsuspecting, he said.
“Those teams that have beat us have had every bounce go their way,” he said, and they’ve played really well too. Junction City and Cottage Grove both played outstanding games, with good pitchers throwing strikes and teams committing no errors.
These teams have executed very well and would have beaten a lot of teams on those days, Matuszak said.
At bat against Elmira, Justin Rice led hitting, going 2-4 with a double and RBI. Collecting one hit each were Austin Rice, Holly, Brandon Marquez with a double, Kevin Seiber and J.T. Weld.
Kory VanDeusen pitched five innings, giving up four hits, three runs and two walks with five strikouts. Pitching in relief were Drayson Scott, Holly and Dylan Elder. They gave up two hits; nine runs, three of them earned; and seven walks, while striking out two.
Sweet Home 101 000 0 – 2 7 4
Elmira 001 030 8 – 12 6 1
Junction City 3, Sweet Home 2
Sweet Home lost 3-2 at Junction City on April 10.
Both teams scored a run in the first inning, and the Huskies held a two inning lead after scoring in the fourth. Junction City tied the game and went ahead 3-2 in the sixth.
The Huskies collected seven hits. Marquez went 2-4, and Justin Rice went 2-3, with a double. Scott, VanDeusen and Seiber each recorded a hit. Hunter Jutte collected an RBI. Scott and Holly scored runs.
Cole Ashcraft pitched a complete game, giving up eight hits, one earned run and a walk with two strikeouts.
Sweet Home 100 100 0 – 2 7 3
Junction City 100 002 x – 3 8 1
Cottage Grove 5, Sweet Home 1
Cottage Grove scored a run in the third inning and four in the fourth to build a 5-0 lead.
The Huskies scored a run in the final inning but lost 5-1 at Cottage Grove on April 8.
Marquez, Jutte and Weld collected one hit each, Weld with a run and Jutte with an RBI. Cottage Grove had a single hit from Body Allen.
Scott pitched four innings, giving up one hit, no earned runs and two walks, with seven strikeouts and three hit batters. Elder pitched three innings, giving up two walks and striking out one batter.
Sweet Home 000 000 1 – 1 3 4
Cottage Grove 000 000 1 – 5 1 0