SH boys second at Trysting
Sweet Home’s boys finished second in a six-team Oregon West Conference match Monday, April 6, at Trysting Tree in Corvallis.
The Huskies shot 350, behind Cascade (329) and ahead of North Marion (372), Newport (374), Stayton (384) and Philomath (429).
Junior Trent Harvey was the individual winner, shooting 79 to lead his team. Sophomore Henry Gainer was second (88), followed by sophomore Evan Malabago (90), a rookie to golf, sophomore Blayne Schuster (93) and senior Lynkin Royer (98), who’s also new to high school golf.
The Huskies played their only home tournament Monday, April 13, at Mallard Creek, against the same teams.
ELCA golfers finish in pack
At Emerald Valley in Creswell Wednesday, April 8, East Linn finished 11th, right behind Corvallis, Seaside and Marshfield, with a 365, in the 15-team field that included some major players in golf among the small schools in western Oregon.
Bandon was first with 312, followed by South Medford (324) Madras (335), Blanchet (336) and Marist (338).
The all-sophomore Eagles were led by Grady Knurowski with 2-over-par 74, good for fifth place individually, followed by Anderson Kropf (94), Dailey Kirkpatrick (97), Liam Medford (100) and Parker Caddick (104).
East Linn was back at Shadow Hills in Marshfield Monday, April 13.
Husky girls third in golf
Sweet Home’s girls finished third in a tournament hosted by Blanchet Wednesday, April 8, which included 14 teams, though only five had the five golfers necessary to score as a team.
The Huskies shot 438 as a team, as Santiam Christian took first with a 409, followed by Taft (430). Philomath had a 472 and Newport 495 to round out team scoring.
Junior Tori Victor was eighth overall, finishing with a 97 to lead Sweet Home, followed by sophomore Taelyn Coleman, a rookie to high school golf, with a 105. Senior Isabella Wagner was third for the Huskies with 115, followed by sophomore Lynmikka Damag, also new to high school golf, with 121 and senior Eleanor Larsen (127).
Salem Academy’s Chloe Johnston was the individual winner with 75, followed by teammates Ellie Gladow in second (76) and Sloane James fourth (87). Santiam Christian’s Akira White was third (84).
Warriors sixth at Diamond Woods
Lebanon finished sixth out of nine teams in a Mid-Willamette Conference match April 6 at Diamond Woods in Monroe.
The Warriors finished with 364 points as Corvallis won with 320, with South Albany a distant second (353), just ahead of West Albany (354).
Senior Sam Tunstill shot 83 to lead the Warriors, followed by junior Joey Squires (89), senior Austin George (92), sophomore Tanner Lee (100) and sophomore Jeremiah Emerson (103).
Senior Jaden Offutt finished with 93, but was not seeded in the top 5, so did not contribute to the team score.
Lebanon girls top MWC foes in track
In a four-way meet Tuesday, April 7, with Central, West Albany and Woodburn, Lebanon’s girls finished first in both varsity and junior varsity competition, the varsity Warriors scoring 92 points, over West Albany (79), Central (74) and Woodburn (11).
The boys were second in both the junior varsity and varsity competitions, Lebanon finishing with 76 points in the latter, behind West Albany (82) and ahead of Central (61) and Woodburn (33).
Top-three finishers on the track for the boys in varsity competition were senior Bohdi Brown, who actually finished with the same time in the 100 as West Albany’s Cole Butrlalkorn (11.47) but was listed as second in results; sophomore Eadon Marshall in the 200 (24.52, a personal best); senior Cade Weber, first in the 800 (2:07.57, a PR); freshman Xavier Macedo, first in the 3000 (10:41.05), ahead of senior David Brandt, who was second (10:43.16); sophomore Tyler Deckert, third in the 110 hurdles (17.98, a PR);and the 4×100 team of Brown, Weber, senior Logan Large and sophomore Luke Johnson, second behind Central (43.86) in 43.97.
Lebanon baseball heads into league
Lebanon’s baseball team wound up its preseason schedule with a close 9-8 loss on the road Tuesday, April 7, at Cleveland.
The Warriors (2-7) were supposed to play McKay at home on Friday, but thanks to a mixup, no officials appeared for the game, which was rescheduled for a doubleheader Monday of this week.
The Cleveland game had its ups and downs. Lebanon scored a run in the top of the first but Cleveland, also nicknamed the Warriors, responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Lebanon’s bats woke up in the top of the third, the visitors scoring seven runs on six hits.
Cohen Vandiver banged a RBI double as part of the rally. The score remained 8-3 until Cleveland tied things up with five runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Lebanon was unable to add any additional runs and the hosts were able to manufacture one run in the bottom of the inning to record the win.
The Warrior offense scored eight runs. Cole Gerig, Treyton Enright, Jaiden Von Ruden, Cohen Vandiver, Austin Turnbridge, Niko Autry and Wyatt Jenkins each recorded a hit. Von Ruden and Vandiver each drove in two runs. The Warriors also stole four bases in the game.
Warriors finish preseason softball 3-7
Lebanon wound up its preseason softball schedule with a 13-11 win at Willamette followed by a 17-5 loss at home to 6A Nelson and a close 6-4 loss on the road at Century, also a 6A school, all last week.
The Warriors and Willamette battled the entire game. There were three ties and four lead changes.
Lebanon scored one in the top of the first. Willamette scored three runs in both the bottom of the third and fourth to take a commanding lead.
But the Warriors battled back in the top of the fifth with six runs of their own. Each team scored four in the sixth, making it 11-all going into the seventh. Scarlett French delivered a two-run homer in the top of the seventh and the Warriors held on in the bottom of the inning to secure the win.
Three Warriors led the offensive parade. French went 2-3 with the homer, a double and five RBIs. Taelyn Whitney was close behind going two for two with three RBI. Finally, Majestah Nida went two for two including a double and one RBI. Freshman Bristol Hockema pitched the entire game for the win.
On Thursday, the Warriors hosted Nelson. The Hawks took control early and dominated the entire game.
The visitors scored nine runs in the third inning and it was an uphill battle for the Warriors the rest of the game.
Three Warriors got hits. Annastazia Marshal was 1-3, French was 1-1 and a walk, and Jalynn Wilson was one for three with a RBI. The Warriors used Hockema, Marshall and Hailey Myers on the mound.
On Friday, at Century of the Pacific Conference, it was a closer game.
Century scored three runs in the bottom of the first and second innings to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
The Warriors never gave up. They chipped away at the lead, scoring two runs in the third and two more in the fifth. But Lebanon was unable to get any closer and Century won 6-4.
Offensively, French had another strong game, going 1-4 with a double and an RBI. Myers was 1-2 and walked twice, while Marshall was 1-4 with a triple.
Hockema pitched another complete game, striking out three and walking four.
Sweet Home baseball battles to win
The Huskies won a close one in baseball at home Tuesday, April 7, then got rained out Friday when they were scheduled to play Harrisburg on the road.
They were scheduled to host Marshfield Tuesday, April 14, then finish their non-league schedule Friday at Santiam Christian.
It was a slugfest with North Bend as the teams kept it close the whole way, neither leading by more than a run, with four lead changes, the last in the bottom of the seventh, when the Huskies evened the score at 8-8, forcing extra innings. Both scored in the eighth and then, after Eddie Taylor and the defense kept the Bulldogs scoreless in the top of the ninth, freshman Macen Rosa scored on a double to right field by senior Luke Rosa to give Sweet Home the winning run.
Luke Rosa went 4-5 at the plate, with two RBIs and Kyle Zajic was 3-5, with four runs batted in.
Zajic started on the mound, going three innings before being relieved by Tatum Hoffman, followed by Rosa and Taylor, who pitched the final two innings.
Eagles at top of district softball
East Linn’s softball team took off in the month of April and came into this week with an 8-1 record overall, enough to put it in the top 10 of the 2A/1A rankings.
The Eagles have won seven straight, five of those ending early via the mercy rule, coming into this week and sit at the top of Special District 3, just above Regis, which is undefeated in league play as well but is one win behind East Linn.
The Eagles typically play a three-game series with league opponents each week, and downed Gervais three times in the first week of league play, 24-3, 18-5 and 16-6.
After a non-league 12-11 win over Gaston on April 6, they swept Mohawk last week, 21-9, 12-11 and 18-3.
This week is Santiam, followed by Central Linn.
Huskies 4-3 in softball with league week away
Sweet Home split a pair of non-league games last week, falling 6-2 to No. 4 Marist before bouncing back with a 7-4 win over No. 19 Harrisburg.
Against Marist, the Huskies came out strong with three straight singles, followed by another base hit by Trinity Victor that brought in two runs, giving them early momentum.
However, that would be the last time they crossed home plate in the game.
Despite finishing with similar hitting numbers to the Spartans, Sweet Home struggled to capitalize on opportunities, leaving runners on base throughout the game.
“Marist had good defense but more than that, we struggled with stringing hits together,” said Coach Emily Marchbanks.
“We would get people in scoring positions but struggle to execute after they were on.”
The Huskies left six runners on base throughout the game.
“I think that we need to execute hitting when we have people in scoring position,” Marchbanks said.
In the circle, Katriona “Peanut” Harris pitched six innings, facing 29 batters and recording seven strikeouts.
The Huskies’ offense found its rhythm against Harrisburg, which will be a league opponent next year.
Sweet Home totaled 10 hits as a team, Aaliyah Brown leading the way with three hits, while Taylee Rosa scored a team-high three runs. Addy Vannice led the team, stealing four bases.
Harris once again went the distance in the circle, pitching six innings with seven strikeouts while allowing just five hits.
Even with the strong showing against Harrisburg, Marchbanks believes the team still has room to grow.
“I almost always feel that there is room for improvement, Harrisburg included,” they said. “I am going into league pretty confident. I am excited to see what our team will do this year.”
The Huskies continue stay on the road through this week, traveling to No. 22 Marshfield Tuesday April 14.
They will then travel north Saturday April 18 to The Dalles tournament to face No. 9 Pendleton, the team that knocked them out of last year’s state playoffs, and then will play No. 7 Gladstone.
“We are excited to get the opportunity to play Pendleton again this year. Pendleton will be a tough game (along with all of our games at the tournament) but our team is completely capable of competing with them. It will depend on how we show up Friday, “ Marchbanks said.