After dropping their guard against Elmira a week earlier, the Huskies got their act together in time to shut out the Falcons 7-0 on the road on April 22 in softball.
“The loss to Elmira is just what it is, a loss,” said Coach Shane Cochran. “We relaxed a little too much, and they slipped in and beat us. We had six defensive errors and four offensive errors, and you can’t win with that many mistakes. It’s behind us now, and we are pushing forward. We needed to to prepare for Elmira and show up and beat them on Tuesday. That is exactly what we did.”
On April 21, the Huskies had a 2½ hour practice, working for an hour and a half on specific defensive skills and situations and then an hour on specific offensive hitting drills that work on contact points and bat speed, Cochran said.
“To put it lightly, the girls were mad about losing to Elmira, and they put their heads down and worked hard, specifically to be able to shut down Elmira.”
On Tuesday, Cochran said, he could tell the girls were relaxed and ready. In the first inning, they hit the ball hard, with Katie Virtue and Sierra Thayer getting base hits. Caytlin Gillespie laid down a good bunt, but they weren’t able to score.
McKenzie Marchbanks was on in the pitcher’s circle, though.
Elmira went three up, three down. The Huskies followed suit in the second, while the Falcons were four up, three down, with a single.
Virtue singled in the third as Sweet Home sent four batters to the plate, but did not score. Elmira went three up, three down.
In the fourth, Thayer walked and stole second, while Emily Marchbanks hit a sacfrice fly to right field. Thayer tagged and took third. She scored on a passed ball.
“This is the break we had been waiting for,” Cochran said. Elmira was three up, three down again in the fourth.
In the fifth, Maddee Hawken hit a double to center field, and Elmira went three up, three down again.
In the sixth, Gillespie started off with a single, followed by Thayer singling to center field. Gillespie advanced to third on a passed ball, and Thayer advanced to second. McKenzie Cochran came up with a deep sacrifice fly to center field to score Gillespie and move Thayer to third. Thayer scored on a passed ball. Elmira went three up, three down yet again.
In the seventh, Mackenzie Virtue started the Huskies off with a single to center field, and the next two batters grounded out. Katie Virtue dug in and hit a triple, scoring her sister. Gillespie singled, scoring Virtue. Thayer followed up with a single to advance Gillespie to second. Marchbanks singled to advance both of them and load bases.
Gillespie scored on a passed ball, while Thayer and Marchbanks advanced. Elmira intentionally walked Cochran to get to Sarita Zanona, who ripped a single to center and scored Thayer.
The Falcons went four up, three down with a double to center field to end the game.
Marchbanks struck out nine Falcons.
“This was a great win for the girls,” Cochran said. “Adversity, team dynamics, desire and knowledge of the game is what these girls are all about. They just want to win, and that’s what they are doing. This game started out slow and no runs until the fourth inning. I was very impressed with the girls going into the sixth and seventh innings. This is where the Huskies ran away with the game.”
The team is set up well with its lineup, he said. “The girls feed off one another and keep each other pumped and ready for the next play.”
The combination of Marchbanks pitching and McKenzie Cochran at catcher is by far the best in the league, Cochran said. “Marchbanks is pitching well and basically shut down Elmira, which is a good hitting team.
“Emily is a very hard-working pitcher, who has put in countless hours to be as good as she is. She has very good control and is able to put the ball where it needs to be to make batters look bad. Elmira has four very good pitchers, and Marchbanks shut them down.”
With McKenzie Cochran behind the plate, most coaches won’t give the steal sign to their runners because she has thrown out every runner this except two, Cochran said. “Cochran is becoming one of the leaders for this team and is very comfortable behind the plate. She has stepped up her level of game by making big plays and taking home plate away from runners.”
Thayer is coming on strong for the Huskies, making plays and hitting the ball well, Cochran said. Mackenzie Virtue is batting extremely well and doing her job. Zanona has come a long way and is doing more than her share making plays at third and hitting well.
Natalie Thorpe and Gillespie are taking care of the middle infield and are going to be strong at the plate in the second half of the season, Cochran said. Madi Barringer has filled the spot at first base, giving the infielders a lot of confidence, and Hawken is doing a good job as designated hitter and base runner. She will start seeing more playing time on defense from here on out.
“Katie Virtue heads up the outfield for the Huskies, and to put it lightly, she can’t stop getting on base,” Cochran said. “Not sure how she does it, but she does. Probably because she works at it more than she has to.
“This team is set up to win, and we are going to put our heads down and get working on accomplishing the goals we need to. We do have a lot of work to improve on, and we will improve on it. This win against Elmira is a good one, but it’s not over and we will push for a big finish.”
The Huskies are 6-1 and first place in league and 10-2 overall. They have defeated Elmira twice and lost once.
They have defeated every other team in the league once, defeating Sisters, La Pine and Cottage Grove under the 10-run rule and shutting out Junction City. They play each of these teams two more times.
The Huskies are third in the Oregon Student Activities Association rankings behind Yamhill-Carlton, 8-1, and Banks, 13-0.
Sweet Home 000 102 4 – 7 11 0
Elmira 000 000 0 – 0 2 1