Sweet Home 2
North Marion 0
The Husky baseball team defeated North Marion, a team that has dominated the Capital Conference in recent years, on North Marion turf on Thursday 2-0.
“Mike Nagamatsu pitched an outstanding game,” Coach Dan Tow said. “He got our first shutout of the year and only gave up three hits. We played outstanding defensively behind him with no errors and three double plays in the game.
“In the fifth, (Jake) Gaskey singled and stole second. Then he go to third on an error. With Gaskey on third and (Randy) Wunker on first, their pitcher balked, which scored Gaskey and put Wunker on second. A (Jason) Rassbach single put Wunker on third, and he scored on a ground ball by Nagamatsu.
“It was a well-played game, and both pitchers threw very well.”
Nagamatsu, 1-1, was winning pitcher with five strikeouts and three walks. Bryan Goff was the losing pitcher with seven strikeouts and one walk.
At bats, Nagamatsu went 1-3. Gaskey went 1-3 with a stolen base and a run. Rassbach went 1-3. Wunker scored one run.
At bats for North Marion, Ty Brack went 2-3 with a double. Adam Kraft went 1-3.
Sweet Home 000 0200 2 3 0
North Marion 000 0000 0 3 3
Junior Varsity
Sweet Home 8
North Marion 1
The junior varsity baseball team defeated North Marion 8-1 Thursday.
“Josh Starha had a tremendous day to lead us to a big win,” Coach Jon Cohrs said. “He was really surprised by his first home run ever, and the shock and surprise on his face after his second was priceless. He gave us a boost in a close game and had a key double in the seventh to help us break it open.
“Donny Cliver was the other half of our story today. He shut down a good-hitting club. He was in complete command and got stronger as the game went on. I really liked the way he got ahead of hitters and dictated the pace of the game. His control was outstanding and he kept North Marion off balance.
“We played a very complete game. Our defense was very good and we were aggressive at the plate and on the bases. If we can play like this consistently, we will be hard to beat.”
Donny Cliver, 2-0 was winning pitcher, giving up one earned run and three hits but striking out six batters and walking only one.
North Marion’s Anthony Kraft was losing pitcher. Brett Sampson relieved him in the sixth.
Hitting for Sweet Home, Josh Starha went 3-3 with two home runs, a double and four runs batted in; Ken May, 3-3 2B, 2RBI; Donny Cliver, 2-3; and Carey Hintze, 2-4
For North Marion, Ryan Miller went 1-3 and Coren Barton went 1-3 with a double.
The team holds a 6-5 overall record and a 3-1 league record.
Next game is tomorrow against Central.
Sweet Home 011 1005 8 14 1
North Marion 000 0010 1 3 1