The Huskies defeated La Pine at home on 16-1 on May 4 but lost 6-1 at Elmira on May 5 last week in baseball.
The Huskies have just about locked down a playoff appearance, said Coach Matt Matuszak. They would have to lose their last three games, and Junction City would have to win all of its last three games.
The Huskies will face off against Cottage Grove on the road Wednesday to lock in third or fourth place. The two teams split the wins in their last two contests. Both teams are 6-7.
Finishing fourth sends the Huskies to Newport, which is on a 13-game winning streak and one of the best teams in the state, Matuszak said. Finishing third, the Huskies face one of four different teams.
“I would like our chances against any of them,” Matuszak said.
Elmira 6, Sweet Home 1
For the third time this year, Elmira defeated the Huskies.
“It seems like we played our three worst games of the year against Elmira,” Matuszak said. His team never had a chance after giving up five runs in the first inning.
Starting pitcher Cory Hanks had a rough time in the game. With a new pitcher, the Huskies slowed Elmira down, allowing just one more hit and one more run in the game.
Offensively, the Huskies did all right but were never able to get runners across home plate.
“We had six hits against the best pitcher in the league,” Matuszak said, but the early deficit “kind of took us out of our small ball game.”
He didn’t want to play for just one run, he said. The Huskies completed the game with bases loaded, but they just couldn’t get home.
Winslow hit two doubles. Gavin Kauffman, Jeremy White and Justin Rice each had a hit, and Kauffman collected an RBI.
On the mound, Hanks gave up two hits and four walks in the first inning, striking out one batter. Drayson Scott and Rice pitched in relief. In two innings, Scott walked two, striking out one batter. Rice struck out one and gave up one hit and one walk.
Before this game, “things have been going really well,” Matuszak said. The team has been hitting better than .400, winning games 16-1 and 11-1 and defeating Cottage Grove.
“We’ve actually been playing really well with the exception of three innings in the last three games,” he said.
Kauffman is back after being out for about a month with a shoulder injury. Colton Holly, the Huskies’ ace in the hole on the mound, has not been able to throw because of an injury, but Rice has emerged as a force on the mound.
Sweet Home 100 000 0 – 1 5 3
Elmira 500 010 0 – 6 3 1
Sweet Home 16, La Pine 1
The Huskies dominated La Pine at home on May 4, winning 16-1 in five innings under the 10-run rule.
Rice, Holly, Winslow and Hanks all hit doubles.
Winslow led hitting, going 4-4. Kauffman, Rice and Scott each had two hits. Bryce Seiber, David Deggelman and Austin Mizsei each collected a hit, while Kauffman and Nate Melcher each stole a base.
Rice was the winning pitcher. Allen was the losing pitcher.
Rice, the starting pitcher, gave up one hit, one run and two walks in three innings. He struck out eight batters. Scott and Kauffman each walked a batter and struck out two, pitching one inning each. Scott gave up one hit.
La Pine 001 00 – 1 2 0
Sweet Home 470 50 – 16 15 0