In an epic struggle that went to the wire, the Huskies defeated their toughest league rival 5-4 in softball at home on Thursday after thrashing La Pine 21-1 on May 3.
The Huskies held a solid grip on the Sky-Em League, but the gains were jeopardized with a 6-5 loss at Sisters on Monday night. They now hold an 11-2 league record and a five-game winning streak. The Huskies are 14-3 overall.
“This team set a goal to win a league title last season, we didn’t get it done,” said Coach Steve Hummer. “This season the goal was the same, the team was almost the same, but after Friday’s win against Elmira, the Huskies took a big step toward making this season finish different.”
The Huskies defeated Elmira 2-1 at home and lost 10-4 on the road, their only league loss, previously this season. They previously defeated Sisters twice under the 10-run rule.
The Huskies travel to Cottage Grove Wednesday and host Junction City for senior night on Friday to finish league play.
They are scheduled to host a doubleheader against old Val-Co rival, fourth-ranked Central, on Saturday. On Monday, they host second-ranked Cascade to finish the regular season.
Sweet Home 5, Elmira 4
In a game that had almost everything, the Huskies beat Elmira 5-4 to take a two game lead and hold the tie breaker over Elmira with three league games to play.
“The goal has not been accomplished yet, but the win over Elmira was a huge step forward,” Hummer said. “The game had many twists and turns to it.”
The Huskies made some great defensive plays in the game that saved runs, Hummer said. “Hailey Hummer made a great catch on a deep fly ball in the fourth inning to keep Elmira from an extra base hit. The next batter got a base hit. That catch ended up saving us a run, it was a great play.”
In the fifth inning, Ashley Cochran made a great diving catch to hold a runner at third and save a run as well, Hummer said.
Megan Graville pitched six solid innings in the circle, he said. “I didn’t think she had her best stuff, but she competed and our defense played well in the crunch.
“Bayli Riggs pitched the last two outs and she was clutch. She was so focused and intense. It is such a huge advantage for us to have two pitchers, and today we needed them to come up big.”
Offensively, the Huskies had to really work hard for some production, Hummer said. “Alyson Boytzl is a great pitcher. She did a great job keeping us off guard and making us work. Ashley Cochran was the spark plug for us today.”
Cochran had two bunt singles, three stolen bases and two runs. In the second inning, she bunted her way on, got to second on an error, stole third and was singled home by Emili Riggs for the Huskies’ first run.
In the fifth, with two outs, Cochran reached again on a bunt single, stole second and stole third. Sarah Wyatt laid down a clutch two-out two-strike bunt for a base hit. Cochran scored on the throw to first, and Wyatt took second when Elmira threw home attempting to catch Cochran.
The throw to second ended up at the center field fence, and Wyatt scored giving us a 3-2 lead.
“Speed kills, and in that exchange our speed really put the pressure on them,” Hummer said. “We scored two more runs in the inning on two more hits, a single by Emili Riggs and a double by Bayli Riggs. They both scored on a miscue by Elmira, but the hustle on the play by Bayli was huge. She scored from second on a ball that did not leave the infield. Her hustle led to what ended up being the game-winning run.”
The Huskies took a 5-2 lead to the seventh inning. Elmira fought back, but Bayli Riggs slammed the door shut in the circle, getting the last out with a runner at second and third.
“Bayli was just so mentally tough today,” Hummer said. “She showed her leadership. She showed her toughness. She came up big today. Every time we got down, we had an answer. We came from behind twice today; we fought hard; we showed the heart of a champion today; and today, we have put the Sky-Em League title within our grasp.”
Elmira 001 010 2 – 4 7 3
Sweet Home 001 040 x – 5 6 6
Battery
Elmira: Boytzl and Thoms
Sweet Home: Graville, Riggs (7) and Gillespie
WB: Graville 9-1 LP: Thoms
Save: B. Riggs, 2
Doubles – Sweet Home: B. Riggs
Triples – Elmra: Upton
Sisters 6, Sweet Home 5
In a tough turn of events, Sisters scored a grand slam in the third inning, taking advantage of a couple of mistakes, to upset the Huskies 6-5 in Sisters Monday night.
“We had a couple of fielding miscues,” Hummer said. “One went in the book as n error, and one was a mental error. We made a couple of mistakes, and we paid for it with a big hit.”
Sisters scored a run in the first inning. The Huskies tied it in the top of the third, but Sisters answered with the big homerun.
The Huskies scored two runs in the next inning followed by one each in the fifth and sixth, and they were in position to score when the seventh ended.
“We just couldn’t quite get it going,” Hummer said. “We had opportunities and made some mistakes.”
In the fifth, “we got thrown off at third trying to steal a base,” he said. In the seventh, Cochran led off with a single and stole second. Sisters third baseman caught a pop-up bunt and doubled Cochran out at second.
With two outs, the Huskies got a runner to first and second, Hummer said, but they weren’t able to score them.
Hummer took responsibility for the loss, he said. “We just were not ready to play. I don’t think I did a very good job preparing them to play.”
The best is never as good as it seems, and the worst is never as bad as it seems, he said. “It’s not the end of the world. We have time to put it back together.”
The Huskies have time to practice and get the ship headed the right direction, he said.
At bat, Cochran went 2-4 with a stolen base. Wyatt went 2-4. Tasha Saunders went 1-3 with a double, and Katie Virtue went 1-3 with two stolen bases.
Sweet Home 001 211 0 – 5 8 1
Sisters 105 000 0 – 6 6 1
Sweet Home 21, La Pine 1
The Huskies jumped all over La Pine in the first inning on May 3 and never looked back.
Eleven Huskies collected hits in the game, led by Emili Riggs’ 3-5 performance, with two doubles and seven RBI.
Sarah Wyatt, Shelbey Gillespie, and Tasha Saunders all collected two hits as well.
The Huskies stole seven bases, led by Cochran’s three thefts.
Bayli Riggs dominated in the circle giving up only three hits for the win.
Sweet Home 950 25 – 21 16 1
La Pine 100 00 – 1 3 4
Battery – Sweet Home: B. Riggs and Gillespie
La Pine: Owen and Marfield
WP: B. Riggs LP: Owen
Sky-Em League Standings
Sweet Home 11-2
Elmira 10-3
Junction City 8-5
Sisters 7-6
La Pine 2-11
Cottage Grove 1-12