Sweet Home 13, La Pine 3
The Huskies dominated La Pine Friday at home in baseball, winning 13-3 under the 10-run rule in the fifth inning.
That followed an 18-11 loss against the tough Sisters Outlaws on April 3 at home.
Facing La Pine, the Huskies jumped out to an early lead, scoring four runs in the first inning. La Pine answered with a run in the second inning, but the Huskies piled on the runs, scoring eight in the next three innings while holding La Pine to just two more runs. The Huskies scored their final run in the top of five.
“Our kids did an outstanding job dealing with the weather,” said Coach Matt Matuszak. La Pine didn’t handle it as well. Dealing with the rain and wind takes mental toughness, and “the team that deals with the weather the best is going to usually win. Granted, I think we’re a better team.”
With a win and a loss last week, the Huskies are 1-2 in league and 6-6 overall.
“I’m disappointed we don’t have a better record, but I like the direction we’re heading,” Matuszak said. “I think we’re a better team than our record shows. Our team has got a lot of potential. We’re going to get there, and we’re going to win a lot of games down the stretch.”
At bat against La Pine, the Huskies collected 11 hits, led by Brandon Marquez, who went 3-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs.
Austin Rice went 2-4 with a double and two runs. Kevin Seiber went 3-3 with a double, an RBI and a run. Nate Melcher went 2-4 with a double, an RBI and four runs. Brett Blachly went 1-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run.
Justin Rice recorded an RBI, while Colton Holly had an RBI and a run. Kory VanDeusen scored a run.
Lee Reese went 1-2 and scored a run, recording La Pine’s only hit.
On the mound, Cole Ashcraft started, pitching four innings. He gave up one hit, two earned runs and four walks, striking out two batters. Holly pitched one inning in relief, striking out one.
Three La Pine pitchers gave up 11 hits, eight earned runs and nine walks, striking out three Huskies.
La Pine 011 10 – 3 1 2
Sweet Home 432 31 – 13 11 1
Sisters 18, Sweet Home 11
The Huskies played well, but they weren’t able to overcome the Outlaws’ early lead, and they lost at home 18-11.
Sisters scored first, with a run in the first. The Huskies answered with three runs, but Sisters scored seven unanswered in the next two innings to build an insurmountable lead.
The Huskies nibbled at the lead with a couple of runs in the fourth and a big four-run fifth inning, but Sisters scored six more in the final inning.
“We played really well,” Matuszak said. “Sisters is just really good. I’m not one for moral victory, but we got a moral victory out of that. The kids did really good.”
The Huskies defense was a weak point, with five errors on the game, Matuszak said. “They were big errors too.”
They caused big issues that were hard to escape, he said. “If we’d played a good defensive game, we would have beaten them. Sisters is way too good a baseball team to be making these mistakes.”
Batting was excellent all the way through the lineup, Matuszak said. Marquez led the offense in all categories. It’s probably the most complete team in the league as far as hitting, but Sisters has four to six guys who are looking to play at the next level and bring big bats to the game too.
The Huskies collected 12 hits, with Marquez going 3-5 with three doubles, four RBIs and two runs.
Austin Rice went 2-3 with two RBIs, three runs and a homerun. Holly went 1-3 with two runs. Justin Rice went 1-5 with an RBI. VanDeusen went 1-3 with an RBI. Hunter Jutte went 2-4 with a run. J.T. Weld went 1-4 with a run, and Seiber went 1-4 with two runs.
Sisters collected 14 hits, led by Ben Larson, who went 3-3 with an RBI and four runs, and Jardon Weems, who went 3-5 with one run and two RBIs.
Pitchers included VanDeusen, Marquez, Drayson Scott, Elder and Ashcraft. Combined, they gave up 14 hits, seven earned runs and 10 walks with six strikeouts.
Five Sisters pitchers gave up 12 hits, eight earned runs and three walks, striking out seven.
Sisters 134 112 6 – 18 14 5
Sweet Home 300 240 2 – 11 12 5