Sweet Home clinched the league title in softball by shutting out Junction City 6-0 at home on May 13, but the Tigers bit back on Friday, beating the Huskies 4-2 on the road.
Sweet Home also beat Cottage Grove 8-1 on the road on Monday.
“We are now going to start preparing for the playoffs,” said Coach Shane Cochran. “The team’s practices will be toned down, and we will be working on spot-specific skills and situations. The team is excited to play the first round on May 28, and they are going to put their heads down and take care of business.”
Sweet Home will have a bye this week in the play-in round of state playoffs. This week’s games will determine Sweet Home’s opponent next week. The Huskies will host the game.
They won’t take the whole week off. The Huskies were scheduled to travel to 5A Willamette High School Tuesday in Eugene to help keep them sharp during their bye.
“This year has gone well for this team,” Cochran said. “Our defense is playing very well. Caytlin Gillespie and Natalie Thorpe take care of anything in the middle infield, and with Sarita Zanona and Madi Barringer guarding the corners like bulldogs, it makes it tough for batters to get on base.
“Our outfield is one of the toughest in the state, with Katie Virtue in the center, Sierray Thayer in right and Mackenzie Virtue in left. (Katie) Virtue and Thayer are flawless and have the speed to run down any ball hit in the gaps, sending batters back to the dugout wondering what happened. Both Katie and Sierra have made big plays by throwing out runners at home. They both have cannons for arms.”
Mackenzie Virtue has done a good job in left field, making some good plays to keep runners off base too, Cochran said.
“Emily Marchbanks and McKenzie Cochran are the best pitching-catching combo in our league and top three in the state,” Shane Cochran said. McKenzie Cochran has no errors and only two passed balls this season. She has thrown out all runners except three.
“That is amazing stats for a catcher to have,” Cochran said. “Also Cochran’s ability to frame a pitch and get the umpire to call a strike on the close misses is unmatched.”
Marchbanks has pitched 138 strikeouts with an earned run average of .457. She has pitched all 92 innings this year and faced 33 batters.
“Emily’s stats are also amazing,” Cochran said. “Marchbanks works her tail off and will do anything she is asked. She has put her time in, and it has paid off for her and her team.”
The Huskies finish with a 13-2 league record, tied with Elmira. The Huskies have defeated Elmira in two out of three meetings this season and won the championship title. Overall, the Huskies are 17-3.
Finishing third in league is Junction City, 9-6, followed by Cottage Grove, 7-8; Sisters, 2-13; and La Pine, 1-14.
The Huskies are sixth in the Oregon Student Activities Association rankings. Elmira is 11th.
Junction City 4, Sweet Home 2
“When you play a team that has nothing to lose and that has a good pitcher and good coach, it might get a little tough to win,” Cochran said. “Junction City prepared for us and beat us fair and square.”
Cochran said he was a little concerned during pre-game warmup.
“The girls were not performing how they usually do,” he said. “There was a lot of chatting, and the focus was on all-league stats. When you focus on stats instead of the team you’re playing, you might just get beat.”
The Tigers jumped out with two runs in the first inning and finished with two runs in the sixth, while the Huskies scored once in the fourth and once in the sixth.
Sweet Home 6, Junction City 0
Shutting out Junction City 6-0 on May 13 clinched the Sky-Em championship for the Huskies, and the Huskies got things going early.
In the first, Katie Virtue sent the ball deep for a triple and then scored on a sac bunt from Thayer.
The teams went back and forth in the second through fourth innings, and then the Huskies got it going again in the fifth with a single from Virtue.
McKenzie Cochran scored Virtue with a single to left field followed by a Thayer single. Marchbanks scored Cochran with a single, and Zanona singled to score Thayer.
In the sixth, Barringer and Thorpe started things off with singles, followed by Cochran scoring both on a double to center field.
“They played good and kept their heads down to beat a good team with a good pitcher,” Cochran said.