Sweet Home 8, Stayton 2
After a rocky start, the Huskies put together a five-run inning after a clutch bases-loaded single by Kevin Seiber and broke the game for an 8-2 win Monday afternoon in baseball.
The Huskies scored once in the first inning and then twice more in the sixth, while defense slipped a little in the seventh.
“We gave up two in the last inning, two cheap ones,” said Coach Matt Matuszak. Before that, the Huskies played good defense, but they didn’t capitalize on the bases on offense.
Leading the way was Brett Blachly going 3-4 with two big doubles. Also hitting were Justin Tow with a single, and Hunter Jutte, each with a double.
On the mound, Brandon Keenon started and pitched four innings, giving up two hits and three walks. He struck out four. Pitching in relief were Dylan Elder, giving up no hits and no walks while striking out two in two innings. Jutte and Tyler Funk pitched the final inning, each giving up a hit, and Funk giving up a walk and two runs, one earned. Jutte struck out two.
“We didn’t play our best baseball today,” Matuszak said. Defensively, the team played well most of the game. The pitchers threw well, but offense was lackluster, and the Huskies didn’t do a good job closing out the game.
“I thought we got kind of soft, and we could have don’t a better job of closing the door,” Matuszak said. He doesn’t mean to sound negative. This is a good baseball team, but it has a lot more potential. It has the best chemistry of any team he has worked with.
“We’re sitting good right now,” Matuszak said. “We’re right where we want to be. We have a lot of potential. It’s a great group of guys, a hard working group.”
But the team has room for improvement, Matuszak said.
On March 26, Blanchet defeated the Huskies 6-5 in a tournament at Stayton.
It was a close game, where Blanchet took advantage of all four of the Huskies’ errors, Matuszak said. The Huskies defeated Gaston 7-1 on Thursday, and Friday was rained out.
They play at Molalla on Wednesday and host Harrisburg on Friday.
The Huskies softball team defeated Stayton 9-2 at home Monday night and is scheduled to host Gladstone on Thursday and visit Harrisburg on Friday.
Stayton 000 0002 – 2 4 2
Sweet Home 100 502x – 8 6 2