Central 5, Sweet Home 0
In a battle between giants, the Huskies came up short on the softball field Friday afternoon, defeated by Val-Co rival Central 5-0 at home.
“This was a real tough game for us,” Coach Steve Hummer said. “We just could not find a way to get our bats going at all.
“The young lady in the circle for Central was just great tonight, and we could not match her. I was really impressed with their ability to put the bat on the ball and put us in tough spots.
“We dug ourselves into some holes with errors in the field. This was not a typical outing for us. Four errors and no hits are real uncharacteristic of us, but you have to give Central credit. They are a fine team.
“We will have the opportunity to play them one more time this season, and I am really looking forward to the challenge.”
The Huskies were ranked number four going into the game while Central was ranked number three.
Central got things going in the fourth inning, scoring two runs, followed by three more in the fifth inning on a total of eight hits.
“The week was a success overall, going 2-1 with a real tough road win at Newport,” Hummer said.
The top two teams in the league will make the state playoffs. The Huskies have two games left against Philomath and one each against the rest of the league.
Central 000 230 0 – 5 8 0
Sweet Home 000 000 0 – 0 0 4
Sweet Home 14, Taft 0
The Huskies defeated Taft 14-0 in six innings at Taft.
“We really jumped on Taft with our bats and then tried to get some players in the game at some different positions,” Hummer said. “We had four hits in the first inning, and our outs were hard-hit balls.
“Sara Brocard hit a three-run homerun to center field, and we really didn’t look back after that.”
Michelle Cliver went 3-4 with a double. Lacey Mink, Becky Spencer and Jessalyn Seiber also added doubles. Kaci Pettit hit what might have been the longest homerun of the year, scoring two runs, in the sixth inning for her second of the year.
Kim Bell pitched two solid innings after being out for several weeks due to shoulder tendonitis. She struck out four batters, giving up four hits and four runs.
Makenzie Marchbanks struck out eight batters, giving up two hits.
Sweet Home 600 206 – 14 13 1
Taft 002 200 – 4 6 0
Sweet Home 2, Newport 1
The Huskies slipped by Newport 2-1 on the road on April 24.
The Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning and expanded it in the seventh to 2-0. Newport scored its only run in the bottom of the inning.
“This was a real important game, one that we really needed to win,” Hummer said. “Softball is a game that is similar to a pressure cooker. Each team tries to apply pressure to the other in hopes to make them crack.
“This was a typical softball game, two good teams trying to make the other crack. We were fortunate enough to make it happen.
Seiber led off the fifth with single. Olivia Lake put down a great bunt with one out that moved Jesse to second. Kaci Pettit came to the plate and delivered an RBI single that scored Seiber. In the seventh inning, Lake tripled with one out and Pettit again came to the plate and delivered her second RBI single of the game.
“Kaci was clutch today, two big hits in a row in huge situations,” Hummer said.
“Makenzie was perfect thru 5 1/3 innings in the circle, allowing an infield single in the sixth. Newport had the tying run on third with one out in the seventh, but they were unable to make us crack.
“This was a big win for us, giving us a three-game lead on Newport and the tie-breaker.”
Lake hit a triple. Pettit went 2-2 with two RBIs.
Marchbanks struck out 10 batters and walked one.
Sweet Home 000 010 1 – 2 7 0
Newport 000 000 1 – 1 3 1
League standings
Central 7-1
Sweet Home 5-2
Newport 4-4
Philomath 3-4
Taft 0-8