Sweet Home swept Sisters last week, winning 12-4 April 29 on the road, 14-1 May 1 at home and 14-4 Thursday on the road, and then fell 4-3 in the first of a three-game series against Newport Monday night on the road.
Newport, ranked seventh, is leading the Oregon West Conference with a 14-2 record. Sweet Home, which fell to 17th in statewide rankings this week, is in second with a 12-4 record. Tenth-ranked Philomath is 11-5 and in third place.
Sweet Home ends the regular season facing Newport twice more, at 4:30 p.m. at home Wednesday and at 4:30 on the road Thursday. To win the league championship, Sweet Home needs to win both games. Philomath faces a 2-14 and 31st-ranked Woodburn team this week. After winning two out of three games against Philomath, Sweet Home wins a tie with the Warriors.
Newport got ahead in the bottom of the second inning.
Jacob Riley singled, reached third base on an error and scored on a line drive to right field by Jonathan Fritz to give the Cubs a 1-0 edge. Newport scored again in the bottom of the fourth to lead 2-0.
In the top of the fifth, Zach Zanona reached on a walk. He scored on a triple fly ball to center field by Colton Smith. Aiden Tyler singled to score Smith, tying the game 2-2.
Riley scored again for Newport on a single and an error in the bottom of the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, Zach Luttmer was hit by pitch. He advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game 3-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Torres walked and then scored the winning run on a single by Riley.
Tyler led at bat for Sweet Home, going 2-4 with an RBI. Luttmer, Smith, Gavin Nichols, Treyson Smith and Dawson Armstrong each had one hit. Smith had an RBI and a run. Luttmer had a double and one run.
Smith went 6 1/3 innings for the Huskies, giving up three walks, six hits and one earned run while striking out four Newport batters. Tyler closed out the game, giving up one walk and one hit.
Jacob Dobmeier started for Newport, giving up four hits and striking out eight Huskies in four innings. Torres threw 1 1/3 innings, giving up two walks, three hits and two earned runs while striking out one. Tyler Biddinger finished the game, giving up one earned run.
Sweet Home 000 020 1 – 3 7 3
Newport 010 101 1 – 4 7 1
In the first game against Sisters, the Outlaws scored a run in the bottom of the second inning.
The Huskies got ahead in the top of the third. T. Smith singled, Zanona walked. Nate Virtue reached base and T. Smith was out on a fielder’s choice at third base. Then Luttmer singled to drive in Zanona and Virtue, taking a 2-1 lead over Sisters.
Sweet Home scored again in the fourth and then eight times in the top of the fifth to lead 11-1. Sisters Scored again in the fifth to trail 11-2. The Huskies added another run and Sisters added two runs in the final inning.
Luttmer led at bat, going 2-4 with two RBIs and a run. Winning pitcher C. Smith went five innings, giving up six hits and an earned run while striking out nine.
In the second game, the Huskies piled on four runs in the first inning, six in the second and four in the third, while Sisters scored once in the second inning, to beat the Outlaws under the 10-run rule in the fifth inning.
Tyler led at bat going 2-3 with an RBI and three runs. Travis Thorpe went 1-3 with four RBIs and two runs.
Virtue went the distance on the mound, giving up a walk, five hits and one earned run while striking out four.
In game three, the Huskies scored nine runs in the second inning and then piled on another one in the third and four in the fourth, while Sisters scored one in the second and three in the fifth. The Huskies won under the 10-run rule in the fifth inning.
Tyler and Luttmer each went 3-4 to lead the Huskies at the plate. Zanona threw 4 1/3 innings, giving up four walks, four hits and two runs with thee strikeouts. C. Smith closed out the game striking out one batter.
Game 1
Sweet Home 002 180 1 – 12 8 1
Sisters 010 010 2 – 4 11 4
Game 2
Sisters 010 00x x – 1 5 1
Sweet Home 464 0xx x – 14 10 1
Game 3
Sweet Home 091 40x x – 14 17 3
Sisters 010 03x x – 4 4 2