Outlaws crowned champs in Arizona tournament

The boys baseball team spent spring break in Scottsdale, Arizona, and came home as champions of the Salt River Baseball Classic Tournament. Sisters and Santiam Christian, out of Corvallis, joined 22 teams from Arizona for the annual event.

The Outlaws won all four of their games. They defeated Fort Thomas 7-2 on Friday and won three consecutive games in the championship round to win the tournament. Due to the number of teams, all games went just five innings, with the exception of the championship game which was a full seven innings.

In the first game of the championship round, the Outlaws beat San Tan Foothills 6-5.

Shane Groth was the winning pitcher for Sisters and did a good job throwing strikes. Brandon Morgan came in and got the save in the fifth inning.

Jordan Hodges had a key two-RBI hit in the second which put the Outlaws up 4-3. Chris Waters got the game-winning hit in the fourth which drove in Sisters' sixth and final run of the game.

San Tan Foothills loaded up the bases with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, but Hayden Hudson made a game-winning catch on a line drive at first and brought the game to an end.

Sisters beat Santiam Christian (SC) 8-5 in the second round. SC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Outlaws responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning to go up by three.

It was a tie ballgame at 5-5 at the end of the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, Chase Kleint led off with a double, followed by a triple from Max Stovall, which gave the Outlaws the go-ahead run at 6-5. Eric Carlson hit an RBI fielder's choice that drove in Stovall, and Sisters went up by two. Jacob Rocco stepped up to the plate, drew a walk and then stole second base. Daniel Wiegand's line-drive single brought home Rocco to seal the win.

"Chase and Max's back-to-back hits were catalysts that got the inning started and sealed the win for us," said Coach Steve Hodges.

Wiegand was perfect at the plate, going 3/3 with two RBI. Brandon Morgan was the winning pitcher and recorded three strikeouts in the game.

"Brandon pitched very consistent and kept the Outlaws in the game," said Hodges.

The Outlaws advanced to the championship game and defeated Superior 8-6 in seven innings.

Sisters didn't get off to a good start and found themselves down 6-0 until the bottom of the third inning. Back-to-back triples from Kleint and Stovall, and then a double from Carlson, got the Outlaws rolling. Sisters scored three runs to narrow Superior's lead to 6-3.

The Outlaws scored four runs in the fourth and went up 7-6. Morgan started the fourth-inning rally with a bunt, and Jordan Hodges followed with a double to drive in Morgan. Waters' single brought Hodges home and then Waters scored on an error. Next up was Max Stovall, who was hit by a pitch. Stovall stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Wiegand drove in Stovall on a fielder's choice to put the Outlaws up by one.

Sisters tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning, when Hodges hit a single to drive in Arends.

Superior loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning, but Jacob Rocco made the third and final out when he caught a fly ball that was tailing away from him toward the line. Sisters walked away with the win and the championship title.

Daniel Wiegand was the winning pitcher. Wiegand kept Superior's batters off balance and had his breaking ball working well.

Hodges noted the play of Brandon Morgan.

"Brandon had an excellent defensive game at third," said Hodges, "and he showed great maturity and senior leadership on the field. We got off to a bad start and he was inspirational in turning the game around."

Hodges told The Nugget that overall, it was a great week.

"All in all it was a very memorable trip with a good bunch of kids," said Hodges. "Fifty-six of us, including parents, made the trip, and we got in some great practices in awesome weather and had a good time as a team. We got to do some fun things, too. We climbed Camelback Mountain and saw an awesome view of the city, took in a Phoenix Suns game and several spring training games and got to spend time at the pool."