The Huskies missed their second chance at Elmira Friday on the road in softball, losing 4-1 after a rough third quarter.
“We didn’t strike out at all, but we only got two base hits,” said Coach Gary Barr. Elmira’s pitcher was throwing at the outside corner with a good curve ball. “We got the ball in play. It just seemed every time, it was right at somebody.”
Katie Virtue went 2-3. She hit her way onto base in the first inning. With a couple of stolen bases and an error, she scored a run.
The Huskies gave up four hits and a walk in the fourth inning, and Elmira scored four runs, sparked when a two-strike hitter took a shot at a “rise ball” at about head level and hit a homer, Barr said. Elmira followed up with base hits.
The Huskies were scheduled to play Elmira again at home on Tuesday.
“We’ll just try to get them on this next one,” Barr said. It’s a big game the Huskies need to win to stay in the hunt for first place, and Elmira would still need to lose to someone else, with two wins against Sweet Home, to fall out of first place.
The Huskies will keep fighting for number one, Barr said, but if they lose the next Elmira contest, they’ll be battling for second.
Elmira has had one lapse so far this season, losing to Sisters, Barr said, and they’re definitely not unbeatable.
The Huskies are 11-4 overall and 4-2 in league.
Sweet Home 100 000 0 – 1 2 2
Elmira 000 400 x – 4 6 1
Sweet Home 5, Junction City 0
The Huskies shut out Junction City 5-0 at home on April 10.
“We played probably one of our top two games of the year,” Barr said. The Huskies defended extremely well, with one error.
Emily Marchbanks threw 13 strikeouts, Barr said, with good velocity, hitting her spots well.
The Huskies recorded 11 hits, led by Natalie Thorpe going 3-3, Virtue going 3-4 and Sierra Thayer going 2-2.
Junction City, 3-3 in league, is a “big, strong team,” Barr said.
Junction City 000 000 0 – 0 1 1
Sweet Home 022 100 x – 5 11 1
Sweet Home 6, Cottage Grove 2
The Huskies defeated Cottage Grove 6-2 at home on April 8.
“Cottage Grove (1-5) played better than their record would indicate,” Barr said. “we had to play a solid game to win that game.”
He said he would be surprised if Cottage Grove didn’t knock off a couple of teams before the end.
The Huskies scored their first run in the first inning, but Cottage Grove scored one in the fourth and fifth to take a 2-1 lead. The Huskies scored two more in the fifth to recapture the lead and followed up with a three-run sixth inning.
Marchbanks went 3-4 at bat and struck out 13 batters.
Cottage Grove 000 110 0 – 2 6 0
Sweet Home 100 023 x – 6 9 0