After a rough outing against North Salem at home last week on Wednesday, losing 13-1, the Huskies bounced back on the baseball diamond to win a tough game against McNary 11-10 at home Friday and just miss it at Dallas 7-5 Monday.
McNary is 12-2 in the summer league and “probably the most talented team we’ve seen,” Coach Matt Matuszak said. “We had kind of back-and-forth game. We had some clutch hitting.”
The Huskies won with a last-inning run, he said. The Huskies played great, with intensity.
It was a lot of fun, Matuszak said, a completely different mentality than the game against North.
It’s been a Jekyll and Hyde summer, he said. McNary is probably better than North, but the Huskies didn’t look good against North.
Eight players had hits against McNary. Hunter Bidwell hit his first homerun, while Kyle Winslow hit a big double.
Kory Van Deusen has really stepped up his game this summer, Matuszak said. He’s the first to practice and last to leave. he had a clutch hit to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth with two outs.
Nate Melcher also has been doing a great job defensively and improving all summer long, Matuszak said.
Monday night, the Huskies faced Dallas, 13-1 in league, and lost a close game, Matuszak said. Cory Hanks threw a great game.
“I’m not usually that pleased when we lose,” he said. “But it was one of those games we could have won.”
It was a close game where the players came through some adversity to compete well, he said.
The team only had eight players show up, and Matuszak played an outfield spot to round out the defense, although he didn’t hit.
Overall the Huskies are 8-9 this summer. They play their last league game at South Salem on Wednesday. They will then play a three-game series for league playoffs.