By Keeghan Gittins
For The New Era
Sweet Home broke a four-game losing streak in baseball Monday, April 21, with a 7-3 win at Cascade, then followed that up with another win over the Cougars in the third of their three matchups.
Those wins evened the Huskies with Cascade in a three-way tie for third place in the Oregon West Conference standings at 2-4, along with North Marion. .
In Monday’s game, The Huskies started the second inning down one.
Conner Northern then hit a double, allowing two runners to score. Northern finished the day with three RBIs and two doubles in his three at-bats.
“Conner Northern and Damon Lawrence have been on a roll at the plate,” said Coach Evan Teter.
Lawrence had the game’s only triple. Three players for Sweet Home doubled – two from Northern and one each from Kyle Zajic, Tregon Francis. Two more runs were scored in the top of the fourth; a sacrifice fly from Luke Rosa scored the second run.
Cascade scored in the bottom of the fifth before the Huskies added one of their own in the top of the seventh.
Sweet Home lost the strikeout battle in this game, with 12 K’s compared to Cascade’s seven. However, they capitalized on their hits, scoring seven runs.
Cohen Gutierrez started on the mound for the Huskies, pitching five innings, allowing only five hits, and recording three strikeouts. Rosa closed the final two innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four of the 11 batters he faced. He gained his last two strikeouts in the final inning, ending the game 7-3.
On Wednesday, April 23, which was the Huskies’ Kids Night. Sweet Home lost a heartbreaker 9-8.
Kids Night is an event that brings the community together and highlights the future Huskies who will one day take the diamond. The future Huskies are made up of JBO (Junior Baseball Organization) players ages 8–14. As the starting lineups are announced, the boys line up to give high fives and stand with the players during the playing of the national anthem.
Both teams went scoreless in the first inning. Cascade took the lead with a run in the second before Sweet Home tied it up in the third. In the fourth, the Huskies found a groove, with a double from Zajic scoring two runs and a single from Lawrence scoring another.
With a 4-1 lead, the Huskies looked to be coasting to another big victory, but the Cougars started to pick apart Sweet Home’s defense, with two doubles and five straight singles, scoring seven runs.
“It is hard to win a game, allowing seven runs in one inning,” Teter said.
Two quick groundouts made the Huskies’ chance at a comeback slim, but after a walk and a single, Rosa smacked a double, cutting the lead to two.
“We started a comeback in the bottom of the seventh that fell just short,” Teter said.
After a few singles, the Huskies had a runner on second and Zajic at the plate. Zajic, who is ranked in the top 25 in the state for batting average with a .500 on the season, singled to second base, but Kaidence Greer was tagged out trying to advance to home.
“We felt we were the better team, so our mission was to go out on Thursday and not leave a doubt in anyone’s mind,” Teter said.
The Huskies rebounded accordingly on April 24, crushing the Cougars 10-2 on their home field.
Sweet Home really put it together this game, on offense and defense. After the hosts took a 2-1 lead entering the second, Sweet Home then took control of the game, scoring eight straight unanswered runs in the second, third, and fourth innings.
A double from Rosa, a sacrifice fly from Gutierrez, and a pair of singles from Francis and Bradyn McLure scored four runs in the fourth. Rosa and Zajic led the team with two runs each.
“Everyone contributed to the success we saw in this game,” Teter said.
Lawrence and Jake Smith both stole bases, the latter having two.
“We lacked offensive output last week, but I’m glad we found it again,” Teter said.
As a team, the Huskies finished with 13 hits, eight RBIs, and only five strikeouts.
On the mound, Rosa pitched all seven innings, only needing 97 pitches to put the game away. Rosa and the Huskies let two go early, but then banded together and didn’t allow another run for six innings. Rosa gave up only six total bases and four hits, and he had seven strikeouts.
“Luke pitched a great game. This was probably our most complete game we have played all season,” Teter said.
“Although we struggled in Game 2, I was very pleased with our performance this week. Conner and Damon finished the week with great batting averages – Conner with .778 and Damon with .625.”
Francis, Rosa, and Gutierrez have been named among the top 50 players in the state for RBIs – Francis and Rosa with 19, and Gutierrez with 17. Zajic is one of the top 25 leaders in batting average in the state of Oregon with a .500.
Sweet Home’s next series is against No. 7 Newport. The Cubs host the Huskies Wednesday, April 30. Monday, April 28, and Thursday, May 1, are home games for Sweet Home. The following week, May 5-8, the Huskies play twice at North Marion and once at home, on Wednesday. All games start at 5 p.m.