After winning its first two games of the season, Sweet Home’s baseball team ran into some tough opponents during Spring Break, losing four games at the Riverhawk Baseball Invitational in The Dalles March 23-26.
Playing with a limited lineup, the Huskies lost 4-3 to The Dalles, 13-2 versus Tillamook, 12-0 to Phoenix, and 16-0 to Gladstone.
“It was definitely a rough week. We played some of the top teams in 4A at this tournament,” noted Coach Evan Teter. “ I think it was good for us to see. It was helpful to see that while the scores didn’t look pretty, if a few things would have ended in our favor we had the ability to compete with every team.
“We lacked a lot of focus and attention to detail this week, but with some small tweaks we can be back to the team we saw in our first two games.“
Errors were a large part of the losses; the Huskies totaled 20 in just the four games.
Offensively, Sweet Home struggled as well, finishing with 28 strikeouts and only 21 total hits.
“We had some fear of failure this week,” Teter said. “ We are still working to develop our mental game. We were pressuring ourselves instead of playing loose and having fun.
“Some of the guys were at the field on Friday, a day we gave the guys off, because they saw there was a lot of room for improvement. I’m excited to see how they respond to the adversity we ran into this week.”
In the game versus Tillamook, the Huskies tried a carousel of pitchers to try to slow the Cheesemakers’ offense, but nothing sufficed, with various Sweet Home pitchers allowing at least two runs and multiple hits.
“Despite the results, our pitching staff did well,” Teter said. “They did a good job of challenging hitters and making them put the ball in play so our defense could get outs; we just struggled executing on the defensive end.”
Against Phoenix, JV player Tatum Hoffman was called up to relieve Lykin Royer after he gave up 11 runs in four innings. Hoffman pitched just over an inning claiming five strikeouts on just 27 pitches. Only six of his pitches were not counted as strikes.
“Tatum had a great outing,” Teter said. “ I’m excited to see his development over his high school career. He was definitely helpful this week.
“Something we’ve talked about this season so far is our energy level and not letting results dictate what we are bringing,” Teter said, commenting on how the Huskies often nose-dive when they go down early in games. “ We have to cultivate it ourselves when it feels nonexistent. We’re still learning how to do that, but once we are able to figure that out I think we will be just fine.”
After the trip the Huskies sit at 2-4 and will host 0-4 Cottage Grove Tuesday, March 31. Then will travel to Molalla, 1-4 coming into this week, on Wednesday, April 1.
“We certainly aren’t going into these games thinking they will be a terrible team regardless of what their record says,” Teter said. “If we learned anything from this week, it’s that a team can look one way when seeing their game results and a completely different way when we see them on the field.
“We have played Cottage Grove the past couple years, so we know some of that they will be bringing to the table, but they also have a new coach this year so we could see a lot of different things.
“We need to stay true to ourselves and be confident in our abilities. We’re going to put in the work on Monday to be fully prepared, and hope to have a good day on Tuesday. “
– Keeghan Gittins
Warrior baseball faces tough teams in Arizona
Lebanon’s baseball team got off to a good start this season with an opening 14-13 win at home over McNary on March 16, followed by a 12-0 win on the road at Centennial Wednesday, March 18.
Against McNary, in what was obviously an offense-heavy game, Cole Gerig and Wyatt Jenkins both went 2-4 at the plate, Jenkins doubling both times and Gerig once. Also recording doubles for Lebanon were Austin Turnidge and Niko Autry.
Trey Enright led the Warriors in runs with three, and also had three RBI’s.
Trenton Lewis went four innings for Lebanon, striking out six and walking one, while giving up two hits and five runs, two of them earned, as the hosts finished with four errors – as did the Celtics.
The offensive onslaught continued against Centennial, as Lebanon finished with 12 hits against the Eagles, who had four but were blanked in the runs column.
Enright scored three times for Lebanon, as Jenkins went 2-3 and Autry 2-4, while Jaidyn Von Ruden also had two hits, in four at-bats. All three had a double each.
Preston Bryan went three innings for the Warriors, striking out six and allowing four hits.
Over Spring Break Lebanon played four games at the Coach Bob National Invitational Tournament in Arizona March 18-26, which included 111 teams from across the West.
The Warriors lost all four, three in shut-outs:
- 10-0 to Pine Creek of Colorado Springs, Colo., despite a 2-3 performance from Autry – Lebanon was not helped by six errors.
- 13-0 to Pueblo West, also of Colorado, in which Jenkins led the team, 2-3 at the plate. Again, Lebanon struggled defensively, with six miscues.
- 5-2 to Pueblo Central, of Colorado, Jenkins going 2-4 and Gerig 2-2. The Warriors were hampered by four errors. Central jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first two innings, with Lebanon closing the gap in the fifth with a run before Central scored three more in the sixth. Lebanon notched one more run in the seventh but it was too little too late.
- 10-0 to to Dakota Ridge of Littleton, Colo. Lewis was 2-2 for Lebanon.
The Warriors play on the road at Canby Tuesday, March 31, then at Bend on Friday, April 3.
They open Mid-Willamette Conference play at McKay on April 10 and 13 before hosting Central April 15 at 5 p.m.
– Staff
Warriors softball 2-4 after slow start
Lebanon’s softball team got a rough start to the season, with big losses to Cascade, McMinnville and Scappoose before turning it around in two North Medford Tournament games during Spring Break.
The Warriors fell to Cascade 19-3 at home, with only nine players on the field for the game, to open their season March 16.
The visitors scored seven runs in the top of the first and really never looked back.
Lebanon finished with three hits, and its pitchers for the game, none of whom went more than 2½ innings, were unable to stop the offensive onslaught.
Two days later, at McMinnville, it was the same story, roster-wise, and a similar outcome as the Warriors remained at nine players for the contest.
They were up to 11 players against Scappose, the No. 4-ranked team in the 4A Division this week, for the first game of the North Medford Tournament on March 23, but it was still not enough as Indians pitcher Elly Casey shut them down 15-0 in three innings, throwing a no-hitter that would have been a perfect game if she hadn’t walked the Warriors’ Chloe Regalado.
Still fielding nine players, Lebanon rose up later that day against Redmond, scoring five runs in a big third inning to come away with their first win of the season, 7-4.
Brystol Hoekema pitched the entire game and scored two runs, as did Kinnley Clark, in the victory.
Redmond didn’t help themselves with four errors, while Lebanon kept their miscues to one. In the circle, Hokema allowed four hits and one earned run, with six strikeouts, walking three.
The next day, Lebanon downed Churchill 8-6, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before the Wolverines narrowed the gap with two runs in the third. The Warriors responded with four runs in the fourth, added another in the fifth inning, and then held on in the bottom of the fifth as Willamette added four of its own.
Hokema went the distance for Lebanon again, allowing five earned runs, but her team came through offensively, Anna Marshall going 4-4, with two RBIs, Taelyn Whitney finishing 4-3, and Scarlett French 3-2 at the plate, also with two RBIs.
Later that day, against Bend, Lebanon struggled again offensively in a 20-6 loss.
Five errors did not help the Warriors either.
Hailey Myers led the team, going 3-3 and scoring three runs, with Hockema adding two more runs, going 2-3 at the plate. Hockema only made a brief appearance in relief, as Majestah Nida took the loss for the Warriors.
Lebanon hosts Canby at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, then visits Willamette on April 7.
– Staff
East Linn softball 1-1 after break
East Linn’s softball team launched its 2026 campaign with a 19-4 win on March 17 at Eddyville Charter, then fell 11-1 to former league foe Salem Academy, which has moved up to 3A.
At Eddyville, the Eagles delivered 19 runs, including four hits each from Josi Davidson, who scored four runs as well, and from Macy Rehnberg, and three from Eva Pimm and Abby Mitchell. Madison Adams, Pimm, Mitchell and Rehnberg also scored three runs each.
Rehnberg went the distance in the circle, striking out three and allowing nine hits.
Eddyville actually took a 2-0 lead after the first inning, but East Linn closed the gap to 2-1 in the second and took off from there, scoring three runs in the third and fifth innings and six each in the others.
Ally Hatch delivered a triple Pimm and Ava Mitchell both had a double each.
At Salem Academy, East Linn faced a team now ranked seventh in the 3A Division, which had beaten Central Linn 21-6 two days before.
The Crusaders’ Annaleigh Jeppe held the Eagles to five hits, no batters getting more than one.
Alivia Kropf pitched the entire game for East Linn, finishing with two strikeouts. The hosts picked up momentum after a 1-1 tie in the first, scoring two in the fifth to end the game.
The Eagles open their Special District 3 season Tuesday, March 31, at Gervais, with a home double-header against Gervais Friday, April 3, at Christopher Columbus Park in Lebanon.
– Staff