The Sweet Home baseball team extended its record to 5-1 last week at a tournament in Newport, beating Philomath 16-2 and Siuslaw 3-0 Monday, then losing 12-8 to 5A Dallas Tuesday.
The Huskies were scheduled to open league play, hosting Sutherlin Tuesday. They will host Junction City in a doubleheader at 3 p.m. Friday and then play Cottage Grove at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 7.
Around the league, Junction City is 7-2 overall and Sisters is undefeated with a 6-0 record overall. Cottage Grove is 4-2; Elmira, 3-2; and Sutherlin 2-4.
The Huskies are seventh in OSAA rankings, and Sisters is ranked third in the state.
Sweet Home is among the teams allowing the fewest runs in the state thus far, with 21, behind 3-3 Banks, which has allowed 19 and LaGrande, with eight – in two games. Phoenix and Sisters have given up 23 runs so far.
Sweet Home 16, Philomath 2
Playing a close game most of the way, the Huskies climbed their way to a dominating victory against Philomath in the sixth and seventh innings.
“They’re going to be a good team,” Sweet Home Coach John Best said of Philomath. “It was pretty close for a while. It was 1-1 going into the third inning.”
The Huskies put three runs on the scoreboard in the third inning, Best said, but at 4-1, Philomath was still well within striking distance.
“It wasn’t like it started out to be a blowout,” he said. “They’re hitters were tough.
“We threw Daniel Virtue against them. He threw pretty well.”
Senior Devin Stafford sparked the blowout, hitting his first high school home run in the fifth inning.
“We just started putting the ball in really play really hard, and we did a lot of it with two outs,” Best said. Sweet Home “looked very good. They were very aggressive at the plate.”
It was probably Sweet Home’s best offensive approach this season, Best said.
The Huskies struck out just three times on the game, Best said. Everything else, they put into play. They were aggressive at the plate and stole bases. Nearly everyone contributed at bat.
Stafford went 3-4. Keanu Aiona went 4-5 with a double. Virtue went 3-3 with a double. Nate Virtue went 3-5 with a double and two RBIs and a lead-off double to get the fifth inning going.
Kobe Olson and Keegan Holly each had two hits. Colton Smith and Austin James each had a hit.
On the mound, Daniel Virtue pitched six innings, giving up one earned run, eight hits and a walk and striking out seven.
Smith came on in relief in the final inning, giving up two hits and striking out two.
Nolan Jackson pitched for Philomath. Marshall Brattain and Matt Hamilton pitched in relief. At bat, Casey Croy led Philomath with three hits, including a triple.
Sweet Home 013 025 5 – 16 19 1
Philomath 100 010 0 – 2 8 2
Sweet Home 3, Siuslaw 0
It took a little bit before the Huskies could get going in a rematch against Siuslaw.
Sweet Home beat Siuslaw 8-1 earlier this season taking advantage of a number of errors.
“They were a lot more competitive this game,” Best said. “I think that Siuslaw was pretty good. They played a very clean game.”
Siuslaw pitcher Kelby White mixed up a lot of curves, Best said, and he struck out three Huskies. He gave up three runs, seven hits and no walks. He hit one batter, allowing eight Huskies to reach base all game.
Sweet Home scored its first run in the third inning and then didn’t score again until the seventh.
Nate Virtue was starting pitcher for the first time, Best said, and he did a good job, striking out seven and giving up two hits and two walks.
Fisher Anderson pitched the last two innings, striking out two and giving up three hits and no walks.
At bat, Olson had two hits, with a double. James hit a double. Daniel Virtue, Nate Virtue, Smith and Holly each had singled.
Five Siuslaw batters singled.
Sweet Home 001 000 2 – 3 7 2
Siuslaw 000 000 0 – 0 5 1
Dallas 12, Sweet Home 8
The Huskies gave Dallas a head start in the first two innings and then began clawing their way back into the game.
“We came out and made a lot more errors than we normally do,” Best said. The Huskies committed six errors in the first two innings, and the Dragons scored a pair of runs in the first inning and five in the second, all of them unearned, to take a 7-0 lead.
“Dallas is pretty good,” Best said. “They’re a good club. If we would’ve played ourselves defensively, we would’ve had a better shot.”
The Huskies settled down and began fighting their way back into it.
“I really like the way they competed to get back I that game,” Best said. After a pep talk, Sweet Home went back out and scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Dallas scored another and the Huskies another pair to make the score 8-4 by the end of the third. Dallas scored three more in the fifth, and the Huskies scored two, leaving them behind 11-6. Dallas scored one more in the final inning, and the Huskies scored another pair.
“We had a chance,” Best said. “We had runners on in the bottom of the seventh.”
Pitching, Stafford threw 5 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs, nine hits and three walks and striking out two. Smith closed the game, giving up a run and a hit and striking out one.
Clay Coxen took home the win, pitching four innings. Jacob Salinas pitched the fifth an sixth, and Eric Kessler closed out the game for Dallas.
At bat, Stafford hit his second home run of the week for the Huskies, scoring two runs and getting “us back into it,” Best said. Olson went 3-4 with a double. Daniel Virtue went 4-4. Aiona went 2-4 with a double, and Smith singled.
For Dallas, Kessler and Treve Earhart each went 3-3.
Dallas 251 030 1 – 12 10 2
Sweet Home 022 020 2 – 8 11 7