With Cottage Grove’s tying run at third base, Sweet Home gave the Lions the slip and won a tight 4-3 baseball contest at home April 11.
“It was a great game,” said Coach John Best. “It was a really good ball game by both teams.”
Cottage Grove will finish top three this season, Best said. “They can compete. They’ve got a few guys who can swing it. They’ve got some pitching.”
Cottage Grove split a doubleheader with perennial powerhouse Sisters the Friday before, losing 10-0 and winning 1-0.
Facing the Lions, Sweet Home scored a run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Cottage Grove tied the game up and kept it that into the fifth inning.
Each team had a single error, Best said. “We needed a spark. Devin Stafford came up to bad and hit another solo home run and kind of got us going a bit. We saw some more energy in the dugout.”
Colton Smith followed up with a double, and then he scored, Best said, giving the Huskies a 3-1 edge. Sweet Home scored one more time in the sixth inning and led 4-1 going into the seventh.
Smith pitched most of the way, but with a pitch count issue, no more than 110 pitches per game per pitcher, he had to come out. Nate Virtue closed out the game.
The Lions scored a pair of runs.
With one out, the batter knocked a shot right back at Virtue. It bounced off the tip of his glove. He scooped it up and forced out the runner at second base.
With runners at first and third bases and two outs, Brett Ollivant, one of Cottage Grove’s best, “took the biggest swing you can imagine,” Best said. “The ball dribbled right off right in front of the plate.”
The runner at third base was gunning for home as Virtue picked up the ball, slipped and then still managed to throw it to first to end the game, Best said.
“That game, they (the Huskies) did outstanding,” Best said. “When we play good defense, we give ourselves a chance to win. Pitching was great. It was a big win for us. That was a game we needed.
“Both teams did really well. It was hard-fought. Every pitch, every at bat had meaning, had value. We both had runners on base every inning.”
The Huskies ended the day with five hits and one error. Cottage Grove had eight hits and four errors by the end of the game.
A doubleheader at Elmira was canceled due to weather Friday. The games were rescheduled to Monday and then Tuesday.
Without those games, the Huskies are 3-1 in league and 8-2 overall.
Sisters is in first place with a 5-1 league record and 13-1 overall record.
Cottage Grove is second with a 4-2 record in league and 8-5 overall.
Junction City is 3-3 in league and 10-5 overall. Sutherlin holds 1-5 league and 3-9 overall records.
Elmira is 0-4 in league and 4-6 overall.
The Huskies are scheduled to host Sisters in a doubleheader Friday. Game times are 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
“Sisters is going to be tough,” Best said. “If we’re at full strength, I like our chances.”
Sweet Home will need to be disciplined at bat, Best said. He anticipates seeing the top two Outlaws pitchers, who will both be rested by then.
The Huskies will travel to Junction City on Tuesday.