The Husky baseball team split a doubleheader, 8-3 and 11-2, with Philomath at home on Saturday.
“We played a fairly good game, but they had several double plays to take us out of potential scoring opportunities,” Coach Dan Tow said of the first game. “They made big plays defensively, and the hits they got were big ones. The home runs hurt us.
“We hit the ball fairly well, but it seemed to be right at them a lot of the time.”
Randy Wunker was the losing pitcher. McAlpin was winning pitcher.
At bats, Mike Nagamatsu went 2-3, with a double. Matt Matuszak went 1-2, with a double. Richard Erevia went 1-2 with an RBI. Scott May went 1-2 and scored a run.
Gunter and Purvis each had a homerun for Philomath.
“We really pounded the ball in game two,” Coach Tow said. “It wsa just a greate effort by everyone. Defensively, we played very well, particularly our infield, and I thought B.J. Emmert, (Erevia starting) did a great job on the mound. He pitched four innings and did not giveup a run. This was the best all-around game we’ve played.”
At the plate, Jason Rassbach went 4-4. Erevia went 3-4 batting in three runs. Andy Ellis and Emmert were both 2-2. Nagamatsu went 2-3, with two doubles. Wunker had two runs batted in.
Philomath 020 1203 8 8 2
Sweet Home 000 0120 3 8 3
Philomath 200 0000 2 5 2
Sweet Home 303 221x 11 17 1
Sisters 3
Sweet Home 2
Sisters slipped two runs by the Huskies in the sixth inning to take a winning 3-2 on April 5 at Sisters.
“This was a very exciting game,” Coach Dan Tow said. “Sisters has a good club, and we played a great game defensively.
“Also Mike (Nagamatsu) pitched very well I thought.
“They just came up with a big hit in the sixth, and then we got guys on second and third in the seventh, but we couldn’t get them in.
“It was really a defensive battle with both pitchers and both defenses playing a great game.”
Nagamatsu, the losing pitcher, struck out three and walked three. Kaleb Kalleher was the winning pitcher.
At bats, Nagamatsu went 2-3, recording an RBI. Josh Marvin went 2-3 scoring a run. Matt Matuszak went 2-4 with an RBI. Emmert hit a double and scored a run.
Ben Coffield batted in the tying and winning runs for Sisters in the sixth inning.
Sweet Home 001 0010 2 7 1
Sisters 100 002x 3 6 2
Sweet Home 5
Molalla 4
Sweet Home narrowly defeated Molalla 5-4 at home earlier in the week.
“This was really a pretty well-played game by both teams,” Coach Tow said. “I was proud of our guys. We pulled out the win with two out in the seventh inning.
“Mike Nagamatsu had a two-run double in the sixth to put us up one, then Molalla scored two in the top of the seventh to go up one. Then with two out in the seventh, Jake Gaskey walked, Emmert doubled, and Ellis doubled to drive them in and give us the victory.”
Wunker, 1-3, was the winning pitcher, striking out six and walking three.
At bats, Ellis went 1-3 with the game-winning double. Nagamatsu went 1-2 to hit his double. Emmert went 1-4 for a double and the game-winning run off of Ellis’ hit. Gaskey and Erevia went 1-3.
Jeromy Krupicka was the losing pitcher. At bats, he went 3-4 with three runs batted in on a double and two singles.
Molalla 100 0102 4 7 1
Sweet Home 010 0022 5 5 1
Junior Varsity
The Huskies split a doubleheader with Philomath Saturday at home, winning the first game 17-10 and losing the second 12-0.
“Our comeback in the first game was a highlight of the season so far,” Coach Cohrs said. “We trailed 9-2 in the fourth inning and started chipping away at their lead before exploding for 10 runs in the sixth. Everyone contributed to the win offensively, with Brent Smith, Ken May, Bryce Beard and Jacob Culley leading the way.
“Josh Starha got knocked around some early, but he kept us in the game; and he got stronger in the later innings. Once we got some momentum, you could really see our confidence build. We played better defensively behind Starha once we were back into the game, and that was the key to shutting them down.
“Smith caught both games and did a great job. He threw out two runners at second, picked one off at third and gave us good leadership behind the plate.
“We let down in the second game. Their pitcher worked around our strength and made us hit his pitches. He got ahead in the count and we were on our heels.
“I was happy with Chris Phillips’ performance on the mound. He came in in a tough situation and made batters hit ground balls. Unfortunately, we struggled some with making routine plays, and that came back to hurt us.
“I’ll take the split. We earned our win from the way we came back in the first game, and they came out hard in the second to even things up.”
Josh Starha, 1-1, was winning pitcher. He had two walks. For Philomath, Brent Tompkins was losing pitcher. He was relieved in the sixth by Billy Scott.
Hitting for Sweet Home, Ken May went 2-3, 2B, 2RBI; Brent Smith 2-3, 2B, 3RBI; Jacob Culley 3-5; Bryce Beard 2-4, 2 2B, 2RBI; Chris Miner 2-4, 2RBI.
For Philomath, Jerry Jackson went 3-5, and Billy Scott 2-4, 2B
In game two, Bryce Beard, 1-1, was losing pitcher, with two strikeouts and five walks. He was relieved in the second by Chris Phillips, with two strikeouts, two walks and no earned runs.
Andy Hedgpeth was winning pitcher with four strikeouts and two walks.
Hitting for Sweet Home, Jacob Culley went 1-2, and Chris Miner 1-2
For Philomath, Joel Shonnard went 3-4
The Huskies hold a 5-5 record and are 2-1 in league.
Philomath 312 3001 10 14 5
Sweet Home 011 32(10)X 17 16 5
Philomath 082 02 12 7 1
Sweet Home 000 00 0 2 7
Sisters 11
Sweet Home 1
Sisters defeated the Huskies 11-1 at Sisters on April 5.
“Sisters jumped out to an early lead and dictated the pace today,” Coach Jon Cohrs said. “They had a very balanced offensive game and took advantage of having runners on base.
“They hit the ball well, but we were not as sharp as we can be. As we get further into the season, I hope games like this will motivate us to keep our focus and play hard every inning. Right now, we’re working on being more consistent, especially defensively and on the mound.”
Brent Smith, 1-2, was losing pitcher, striking out two and walking three. Bryce Beard relieved him in the second with two strikeouts and four walks. Donny Cliver pitched in relief in the fifth inning. Harper was the winning pitcher.
Hitting, Carey Hintze went 1-3, 2B; Brent Smith 1-2; Donny Cliver 1-2, SB
For Sisters, Johnson went 2-3, HR; Harp 2-3, 2B; Harper 2-3 2B
The junior varsity hold a 4-4 overall record and a 2-1 league record.
Sweet Home 010 00 1 5 3
Sisters 422 21 11 11 0