Stayton 2
Sweet Home 1
Stayton, one of the top 10 softball teams around the state, scored two seventh inning runs to defeat the Huskies at Stayton on Thursday.
The Huskies took a 1-0 lead at the top of the third inning.
“I felt like we played extremely well,” Coach Rob Younger said. “If felt that the girls played their hearts out.”
The loss was a heart breaker, Coach Younger said. With the Huskies’ three “seeing-eye” singles, out of reach of their opponents, it was one of those days when the wrong team won.
The Huskies finish league play against Central this week. If the Huskies can win the game, they will make league playoffs for sure, but if they lose, playoffs will depend on how the rest of the league’s games go this week.
If the Huskies win, they will face Cascade and Molalla, whom they will need to defeat to make state playoffs. If the Huskies lose, the same scenario applies depending on how North Marion finishes league play this week.
“The frustrating thing for our team is we’ve really played well the last two weeks,” Coach Younger said. The team is coming up just one short to teams like Stayton and Newport, which is ranked in the top five statewide.
The Huskies will need to do the little things to turn these close contests into wins to make playoffs and possibly even state, Coach Younger said.
Against Stayton, Kaci Trask went 1-4. Ashley Severns went 1-2. Tiffany Martinez went 1-3 with a double.
Newport defeated the Huskies 2-0 in eight innings on May 9. Trask went 1-2 and Crystal Fowler went 1-1 to earn the Huskies only hits.
The Huskies dominated North Marion on May 8, winning 8-2. The winning pitcher, Heather Wall, struck out seven batters and walked only one. At bats, Severns went 3-3 and scored two runs. Wall went 2-2. Mahria Zook scored three runs, and Martinez went 2-3 with three RBIs.
Sweet Home 0010 000 1 3 1
Stayton 0000 002 2 7 2
Newport 0000 0002 2 7 1
Sweet Home 0000 0000 0 2 3
Sweet Home 4012 010 8 12 5
North Marion 0000 002 2 5 4