The Huskies lost 4-0 in varsity baseball at Sisters on Friday, maintaining a narrow lead over Elmira in the Sky-Em League.
“They’re tough,” said Coach Dan Tow. “We really didn’t play that poorly.”
The Huskies were in position to score a couple of times, in the second and third innings, but couldn’t find the hit to bring the runners in, Tow said.
“Our pitcher pitched well,” Tow said. “Theirs was a little better.”
It was a “clean game, and they got us,” Tow said. “We’re capable of beating them.”
Joe Salsbery led at bat, with two hits. Also hitting were Desmond Ely, Hunter Jutte, Colyn Van Eck with a double and Dan Virtue.
On the mound, Cole Ashcraft started the game, pitching four innings and giving up seven hits, three walks and two earned runs. He struck out four batters.
Salsbery pitched in relief, giving up one walk.
Monday, Sisters defeated the Huskies 19-12.
Sisters grabbed an early lead, 3-2 in the first inning and expanded that lead to 7-3 by the end of the third inning. The Huskies scored four runs in the fifth and five in the sixth, but Sisters added four more in the sixth and six in the final inning.
Brett Blachly led hitting for the Huskies 3-4, with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs. Brandon Keenon went 2-4, one a homerun, with four RBIs and two runs.
Justin Tow hit twice, with a double and three runs. Kevin Seiber, Jutte, Van Eck and Virtue each had a hit. Van Eck hit a double, with an RBI and a run. Jutte hit a homerun, with an RBI and a run.
The Huskies, with a 7-4 record, trail Sisters, 10-1, Monday and led Elmira, 6-5 and Cottage Grove, 6-5, tied for third place, followed by Junction City, 3-8, and Sutherlin 1-10. If Sweet Home and Elmira tie, Sweet Home wins the tie because the Huskies defeated Elmira two out of three games this season.
Sisters scored the first run in the bottom of the third inning and then three more in the fourth for the win.
Next, the Huskies face Sutherlin Wednesday on the road and Friday at home this week and Cottage Grove Tuesday at home and Friday away next week.
The fate of the Huskies is uncertain at this point.
“You can’t really overlook anybody,” Tow said.
Cottage Grove is the only team to beat Sisters at this point, although “Cottage Grove has kind of faltered” after the Huskies beat Cottage Grove 3-2 in 10 innints, Tow said “We certainly are in a good spot, but it’ll be a tough series with Cottage Grove.”
Sweet Home 000 000 0 – 0 6 2
Sisters 001 300 x – 4 7 0
Sisters 313 204 6 – 19 14 1
Sweet Home 201 045 0 – 12 12 1
Sweet Home 4, Elmira 0
Sweet Home shut out Elmira 4-0 on the road on April 28.
The Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, and then scored three more in the sixth to round out their scoring effort.
In the first, Hunter Jutte scored on a wild pitch.
In the sixth, Brandon Keenon led off with a double, followed by a hit from Virtue. Salsbery knocked in both runners and then scored on a hit from Justin Tow.
“That was a really good game,” Tow said. Elmira’s pitcher, Luke Brockman, threw a really good game, but “Daniel Virtue pitched better. You don’t get shutouts very often. The story of the game was Daniel just pitched really well.”
Virtue pitched a complete game, giving up five hits and three walks while striking out nine batters.
Brett Blachly led hitting with three hits, including a double. Salsbery, Tow, Keenon, Jutte and Virtue each had a hit, Keenon with a double.
Sweet Home 001 003 0 – 4 7 3
Elmira 000 000 0 – 0 5 1