Junior Varsity Baseball
Sisters 8
Sweet Home 7
Sisters squeaked by Sweet Home’s junior varsity baseball team 8-7 on April 24.
“It’s tough to lose a game in the bottom of the seventh like we did, but we have to give Sisters credit,” Coach Jon Cohrs said. “They deserved to get the victory with clutch back-to-back triples and a game-winning single after beginning the inning trailing by two.
“We handed them a big early lead by committing some unfortunate errors, but we hung around long enough to take advantage of a pitching change that didn’t work out for them. We scored seven runs in the fifth on just one hit to take both the lead and the momentum away.
“Ronnie Garcia gave a strong performance once again. In his second start, he had four strikeouts and no walks and he pitched well enough to win, but we gave up too many unearned runs. He made quality pitches in tough situations and it took the seventh-inning rally for Sisters to really get to him.
“We were disappointed to lose like we did, but for us to come from behind and take the lead on a very cold day against a pretty good team was encouraging. We are beginning to capitalize on other teams mistakes and making them earn victories, rather than giving games away. That is a good sign as we begin the second round of league games.”
The team holds a 1-9 overall record and 1-5 league record.
Pitching
SH Ronnie Garcia (LP 0-2) & Joe Ellis
SIS Johnson, Trask (5), Johnson (5) (WP) & Ramsey
Hitting
SH Mark Lewis 1-3, RBI; Brian Lindsay 1-4, RBI, SB; Joe Ellis 1-2, RBI, SB; Jesse Aitken 1-2
SIS Crowder 2-4, 2B; Fitter 2-4
Sweet Home 0000 070 7 6 8
Sisters 2013 002 8 10 2
Newport 4,4
Sweet Home 0, 2
“Lance Carter threw the first game (at Newport on April 19) and looked quite sharp for his first outing of the year,” Coach Cohrs said. “He was on loan from the varsity to get in some work on the mound, and Lance showed control of his pitches and made Newport earn the win.
“Other than a mistake with a high fastball that Downing made him pay for, Lance didn’t really give the Cubs much to hit. We didn’t give him much support at the plate, but we played fairly good defense behind him.
“In the second game, we couldn’t really solve their pitching either. We didn’t put the ball in play enough and struck out too many times to get much going.
“Jesse Aitken pitched competitively, just like Lance in the opener, but he came away empty.
“Newport is a quality club, and they showed it today. They’ve got aggressive hitters and pitchers who challenge you. We are making good progress, though, with everyone getting a chance to contribute.”
Game 1
Pitching
SH Lance Carter (LP 0-1) & Joe Ellis
NPT Cashen (WP) & Keesee
Hitting
SH Jesse Aitken 1-2; Matt Morneault 1-3; Trevor Tagle 1-3; Lance Carter 3BB, 2SB
NPT Downing 2-3, HR, 2RBI; Morley 1-2
Sweet Home 0000 000 0 3 4
Newport 0110 02X 4 4 1
Game 2
Pitching
SH Jesse Aitken (LP 1-4) & Jeb Koechig
NPT Morley (WP) & Cashen
Hitting
SH Jeremy Bate 1-2, SB
NPT Morley 2-3; Iverson 2-3; Chandler 2-3
Sweet Home 0010 100 2 1 1
Newport 3000 10X 4 8 1
Stayton 6
Sweet Home 0
Stayton defeated the Huskies 6-0 at Stayton on April 18.
“Ronnie Garcia gave us quite a surprise in his first appearance on the mound,” Coach Cohrs said. “He was an emergency starter against the Eagles, and based on his performance, he is going to get the ball again.
“He threw a high percentage of strikes and made them hit the ball on the ground so that we could make the plays.
“Offensively, we were never able to get anything going. We got only one guy past second base and could not mount a serious threat to score. Given the effort Garcia gave us on the mound, that’s disappointing, but we will bounce back.”
Pitching
SH Ronnie Garcia (LP 0-1) & Joe Ellis
STAY Jones (WP) & Stoyles
Hitting
SH Aaron Forquer 1-2; Mark Lewis 1-3; Ronnie Garcia 1-3
STAY Etzel 2-4, 2B; Stoyles 1-2; Cates 1-2
Sweet Home 0000 000 0 3 3
Stayton 0002 40X 6 8 2
Cascade 16
Sweet Home 6
Cascade defeated the Huskies 16-6 at Cascade on April 15.
“This was a very close game until things went crazy in the fifth and sixth,” Coach Cohrs said. “Both teams suddenly came to life after battling the rain the early innings and, unfortunately, Cascade had a little more pop than we did.
“We competed throughout the game, but strikes were hard to come by in the sixth. We literally allowed them to walk away with a victory, and that’s an area of the game we need to continue to focus on
“Aaron Forquer gave it his best into the fifth inning, but he just ran out of gas. Jesse Aitken and Brett Miller, who are generally in the strike zone, struggled in the cold and wet conditions.
“We were able to get runners on and advance them productively, just not enough. Our baserunning has been a strength, and we were able to take advantage of Cascade with eight stolen bases.
“We will continue to improve our pitching and defense as we go. We’ve been around the league once now, and we should be competitive the rest of the way.”
Pitching
SH Aaron Forquer, Jesse Aitken (5) (LP 1-3), Brett Miller (6) & Joe Ellis
NM VanHess (WP), Binns (5) & Frey
Hitting
SH Ronnie Garcia 1-2, RBI, 2SB; Tim Faulconer 1-1, RBI, SB; Matt Morneault 1-2, SB
CAS Frey 2-3, 2B, 4RBI; VanHess 2-2
Sweet Home 000 240 6 4 7
Cascade 001 05(10) 16 6 5