Sweet Home 5, Cascade 2
The Huskies softball team defeated Cascade 5-2 to open their season on the road Monday.
The game went six innings before being canceled due to rain, and “it got a little damp at the end,” Coach Steve Hummer said, but “it was a good start.”
Cascade is picked to possibly finish as the Capital Conference champion with a returning all-state honorable mention pitcher, Hummer said, and the Huskies started six freshmen against those odds.
“So it was a big win for us, a good way to start,” Hummer said.
The Huskies scored a run in the first inning, and Cascade scored in the second. The Huskies scored three more in the third inning after walking and then bunting. Cascade made a mistake and threw to the wrong base. With one more walk and a ground hit with an error, the Huskies brought in two of those runs.
Sometimes, facing a good pitcher, a team must pressure a defense by bunting, walking and running the bases and create chances for errors, Hummer said. “We just played better defense there. They didn’t.”
Bayli Riggs went 1-2 at bat with a double and a sacrifice bunt.
Ashley Cochran and Paige Niemi each had a hit.
On the mound, Riggs through two strikeouts and three balls, while the defense behind her played well, with Hailee Huenergardt fielding a lot at shortstop and Tiffanie Cuilla and Cochran fielding at second, Hummer said. Tasha Saunders had a good throw to home to cut off a run.
“Everyone played very well together,” Hummer said.