Outlaws win three after dropping season opener

The Outlaws' baseball team recorded three wins after their 19-11 loss at Madras on Tuesday, March 16. Sisters bounced back with a 10-9 win over Mountain View on Wednesday and then won both their games at the John Day Tournament on Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20.

Sisters' pitchers had trouble throwing strikes and walked 16 batters in their game against Madras on Tuesday, but Hodges noted that the bright spot in the game was that the Outlaws hit the ball well. Hayden Hudson had two doubles and Brandon Morgan and Jordan Hodges each hit a double.

On Wednesday, the Outlaws edged out Mountain View 10-9.

Mountain View took a 3-0 lead in the first, but the Outlaws caught them in the fourth and tied the game 5-5. Sisters went ahead 9-6, but Mountain View tied it up 9-9 in the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh, Jacob Rocco led off with a hard line drive down the right for a double, and Chase Kleint followed with a walk. Chris Waters hit a sacrifice bunt and advanced the runners to second and third. Daniel Wiegand stepped up to the plate and flew out to shallow

right.

With two out and runners on second and third, Brandon Morgan hit a hard ground ball down the left field line for the game-winning run.

Hitting stars were Jacob Rocco, who went 2/4, and Brandon Morgan, who went 3/5. Hayden Hudson and Jordan Hodges each had a double in the game.

Daniel Wiegand pitched for the Outlaws, and Chris Waters came in and recorded the win.

Coach Steve Hodges said, "I liked the way our offense looks so far. We've scored 20 runs in two games."

The Outlaws defeated Heppner 12-1 in five innings in their first game at John Day on Friday, and on Saturday earned a 14-10 win over Stanfield.

Sophomore Shane Groth pitched his first varsity game on Friday to lead the Outlaws to victory. Groth had no walks in the game, threw strikes and pitched well.

"Shane made the hitters put the ball in play and our defense did a good job of backing him up," said Hodges.

Hodges said, "After our rocky start against Madras it was nice to see us limit our base on balls. Offensively, we've been consistent and have hit 10-plus runs in all four games. We need to work on our infield defense and shore that up a bit, and we'll work on that this next week. Overall, I'm pleased with our start."

The Outlaws will be in Phoenix over spring break for a tournament.