The Huskies opened their baseball season on the road, with an 18-1 victory over Cascade Monday, March 19, and a 5-0 shut-out over Stayton on March 14.
“I think the kids are going a really good job,” said Coach John Best. They gave up just one run in two games.
“I like the way they’re competing at the plate. I’m not seeing bad at bats or outs.”
That’s how they’re practicing, he said, and it’s showing up in games.
At 2-0 overall, Sweet Home is ranked seventh statewide by OSAA.
They Huskies host Pleasant Hill Wednesday, March 21, and Scappoose on Thursday. Game times are 4:30 p.m.
Sky-Em rival Cottage Grove narrowly slipped by Pleasant Hill, winning 4-3 Monday evening, March 19, so Best expects the Billies to be competitive.
Sweet Home 18, Cascade 1
The Huskies started scoring runs early, and kept going.
They brought in four runs in the first quarter, adding another four in the second. They led 15-0 in the fourth inning, and wrapped up the game under the 10-run rule in the fifth inning when Cascade scored its single run.
“That was a little bit different than I was expecting,” Best said, although the Cougars did lose a lot of seniors last year. Cascade is usually strong.
“We hit the ball really well,” Best said. “They had a few errors. We were putting pressure on them.”
Cascade had four errors, while the Huskies recorded 17 hits. Best estimated that 14 or 15 runs were earned.
“It was a complete game,” he said. When teams get ahead early, “a lot of times, you see kind of a lull. We kept the pressure on. We scored in every frame. When we needed defense, it definitely was there.”
It was a good game against what Best believes should be an average team that wins some games this season, he said.
Nate Virtue led the way at the plate, going 4-5 with a double.
Recording two hits each were Colton Smith, Austin James, Nick Marler, Travis Thorpe and Zach Luttmer. Smith and Luttmer each had a pair of doubles, while Thorpe hit one double.
Singling were Gavin Nichols, Fisher Anderson and Keegan Holly.
Virtue pitched a complete game, giving up two hits, four walls, one unearned run and one hit by pitch. He struck out three batters.
Cascade tried four pitchers against the Huskies. Powell started, with Coffey entering in the second, Sells in the fourth and McGuire in the fifth.
“They’re all different,” Best said. “Some guys were soft. Some were hard.”
And the Huskies did a really good job at the plate against them, Best said.
Sweet Home 441 63 – 18 17 1
Cascade 000 01 – 1 2 4
Sweet Home 5, Stayton 0
Smith struck out eight batters, while the Huskies collected 11 hits to shut out the Eagles.
Sweet Home scored its first three runs in the first inning, then scored single runs again in the third and seventh innings.
“We felt in control the entire time,” best said. “Colton Smith was on the bump. He pitched really well. We’re having competitive at-bats. Stayton didn’t look very confident at the plate.”
While striking out a bunch, he gave up three hits and three walks.
The Eagles threatened in the fourth inning when they loaded bases, Best said.
“We were able to get out of it” when Stayton grounded out to Luttmer at shortstop.
Jared Mitchell was the losing pitcher, giving up eight hits and four runs, three of them earned. Michael Read pitched the final two innings, giving up three hits and one earned run.
Sean Bodi led Statyon at bat, hitting a double.
Virtue led the Huskies at bat, going 3-4. Thorpe went 2-4 with an RBI. Luttmer went 2-4 with three RBIs.
Holly, Nichols, Marler and Zach Zanona each had a hit.
Best noted that Stayton beat the perennially powerful Sisters Outlaws 9-7 Friday. The Huskies beat Sisters, last year’s league champion, once out of three contests last season.
Sweet Home 301 000 1 – 5 11 1
Stayton 000 000 0 – 0 3 2