Sweet Home punched its ticket for the “real” OSAA 4A softball playoffs with a 6-0 win at Douglas Thursday, May 16.
Emily Marchbanks pitched a two-hitter, with 12 strikeouts, to handcuff the Trojans, who loaded the bases in the sixth inning, before Marchbanks, a junior right-hander, delivered three straight outs to keep the hosts scoreless.
Emily Marchbanks sends a pitch on its way en route to a two-hit shutout
Coach Gary Barr, in his first season with the Huskies, said he was “real proud” of their hitting, which kept the pressure on Douglas’ pitcher throughout the contest.
“We’ve been hitting the ball better and better, more aggressively, with more power,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of work on hitting in practice. I’m a hitting coach. I’d rather have a good hitting team and win 7-2 than have a good defensive team and scratch out 1-0, 2-1 wins. I’d rather have both hitting and defense, but if I had to choose one, it would be the hitting.”
Sweet Home finished with seven hits off Douglas pitcher Ana Dupper. Two were doubles from Haley Hummer, batting out of the No. 8 position, who had one more long line drive that would have been another double if it hadn’t gone directly to the left-fielder.
“Haley had a terrific day,” Barr said.
He said the Huskies’ batting has improved over the last four weeks from a team average of .287 to .323.
“That’s pretty good, considering we played a lot of games to get .287,” he said.
Sweet Home jumped on the scoreboard in the second inning with two runs, then added another in the fifth. In the sixth, they poured it on, adding three more.
The Trojans loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, with no outs, but Marchbanks got the fourth batter – No. 3 in the Trojans’ line-up – to fly out to center field, then struck out the next two to retire the side and escape unscathed.
“That was a critical performance,” Barr said. “Emily had both movement and location going for her in this game. She was throwing a lot of good curves, screwballs and rise balls. Those were all working and her location was really good.”
Douglas’ eighth batter crowded the plate – “she was almost on top of it” – and Marchbanks was able to still pitch her inside, he said.
“She had to have her location just right.”
Both sides finished with three errors.
In addition to Hummer, who went 2-4 at the plate, Sweet Home got a hit from nearly everybody in the line-up. Megan Graville went 1-2 and got hit on the foot twice; Marchbanks and Caitlyn Gillespie went 1-3; and Katie Virtue, Sierra Thayer and McKenzie Cochran finished 1-4.
Barr said Douglas ended up playing pretty much as he expected.
“They were ranked 22nd in the state, even though they finished second in their (Far West) League,” he said.
Although Barr expected to face Molalla in the first round, the Huskies instead are going to Henley in Klamath Falls Wednesday, May 22.
The Hornets finished at the top of the Skyline Conference with a 17-9 record overall and a 9-3 league record, and are ranked 10th in the state, while the Huskies are ranked at number 11, with a 9-6 league record and 17-8 overall record.
Foes in common with Sweet Home included Yamhill Carlton. Henley lost 2-1 on the road at Y-C, while the Huskies beat Yamhill 9-3 at the MacHi Tournament on March 29. Since that time, Yamhill-Carlton amassed a 19-7 record overall and a 12-3 league record, finishing second in the Cowapa League, ranked No. 6 in the state.
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OSAA 4A Softball Rankings
1. Gladstone, 618.18
2. Banks, 618.12
3. Newport, 598.15
4. McLoughlin, 598.05
5. Molalla, 596.14
6. Yamhill-Carlton, 581.73
7. Phoenix, 564.26
8. Madras, 547.74
9. Elmira, 546.78
10. Henley, 544.65
11. Sweet Home, 541.85
12. Junction City, 540.44
13. Sisters, 538.65
14. Sutherlin, 535.29
15. Mazama, 533.00
16. La Grande, 527.14
17. La Salle Prep, 526.56
18. Scappoose, 525.64
19. Stayton, 525.35
20. North Marion, 524.67
21. Central, 515.92
22. Douglas, 514.76
23. Cascade, 481.63
24. North Valley, 478.16
25. Brookings-Harbor, 476.86
26. Ridgeview, 473.69
27. Baker, 469.74
28. Taft, 469.45
29. Crook County, 461.76
30. Astoria, 459.44
31. South Umpqua, 445.52
32. Estacada, 442.12
33. Tillamook, 437.07
34. Seaside, 434.02
35. Siuslaw, 420.68
36. Cottage Grove, 407.31
37. North Bend, 404.28
38. Philomath, 394.30
39. Hidden Valley, 391.60
40. Ontario, 389.56
41. La Pine, 383.59