Sweet Home’s baseball team got blanked 7-0 at seventh-ranked Newpeort on Wednesday, then bounced back to down Central at home Thursday 4-2.
Sweet Home 4, Central 2
The Huskies played “an excellent game defensively,” Coach Dan Tow said after his team played error-less ball to hold the Panthers to two runs on six hits.
Gavin Kauffman went the distance and was “tough” on the mound, Tow said.
“It was just a really good win for us,” he said. “It was a game we needed to have. (Gavin) gave us a complete game and a great effort.”
The Huskies scored in the first and Brock Cota’s home two-run home run in the fourth inning broke a 1-1 tie and Leif Erickson knocked in another run to put Sweet Home up 4-1. The Huskies then held Central to one more run to ice the win.
“I thought Tyler Holly and Leif Erickson had very good games,” Tow said. “Brad Valloni also had a couple of nice plays at third base. Really, our whole team competed very well on defense.”
Michael Hamilton pitched “a very good game” for Central, but Tow said the Huskies “battled hard and got a hard-fought win.”
Erickson led the hitting, going 3 for 3 with two singles and a double, while Valloni added another double as he went 2 for 3. Levi Marchbanks and Holly added a single each to round out the offense for Sweet Home.
SH 100 300 X 4 8 0
Central 010 001 0 2 6 0
Newport 7, Sweet Home 0
The Huskies played well defensively, as did Newport, each committing only one error. But Sweet Home’s batters couldn’t solve the riddle offered by Newport’s pitchers and managed only two hits.
“The main story of the game was their pitching and our lack of offense,” Tow said. “(Starting pitcher Tristan) Metcalf was tough and we couldn’t produce any runs.”
Metcalf and Casee Case both had a home run for the Cubs, who got eight hits off Sweet Home starter JP Williams and reliever TJ Sipe.
Gavin Kauffman had a double and Williams a single for the Huskies.
SH 000 000 0 0 2 1
Newport 120 103 X 7 8 1