Outlaws share league championship

Key base hits by Dara Kosanke, Marisa Calavan and Amber Milliman and a sacrifice fly by Brooklyn Walker enabled the Sisters High School varsity softball team to defeat La Pine 3-2, on the final day of the Sky-Em League regular season.

While it wasn't as impressive as the 14-0 routing the Lady Outlaws handed the Hawks three weeks ago, it was every bit as important, as it gave Sisters its first league softball championship. The win over the Hawks - coupled with Marist's 10-0 win over Junction City - put both teams at 11-1 in Sky-Em play. That left the teams co-champions as the Outlaws and Spartans went 1-1 head-to-head this season.

The win moved the No. 4-rated Outlaws to 20-5 on the season.

The co-championship also set the stage for a league tie-breaker on Saturday as Marist defeated the locals 10-2 at Howe Softball Complex at the University of Oregon. The game was 1-1 in the fifth before the Outlaws committed a couple of miscues, opening the door for the two-time defending state champions.

Despite the loss, coach Tom Mauldin said it was a good experience for the girls.

"Pretty neat stuff ... a co-title with Marist and getting to play at U of O."

By beating the Outlaws,  Marist earned the Sky-Em's No. 1 seed in the upcoming 4A State Playoffs. The Outlaws, seeded No. 2, will open the playoffs May 25 at Baker, the No. 2 seed from the Greater Oregon League. Marist will host Phoenix of the Skyline League on the same day.

"No doubt, we would prefer a No. 1 seed, but we're proud of this group. All the No. 2 seed means is we hit the road first," said Mauldin. "We've got a good group of girls and we feel they're up to the challenge."

In beating La Pine on the final day of league play, Kosanke was certainly up to the challenge despite having only a couple of hours sleep due to the state band competition in Corvallis the night before. Nonetheless, the senior limited La Pine to three hits and struck out 13. She also singled twice.

"I've got to hand it to La Pine. We whipped them pretty good the first time, but they certainly came to play," said Mauldin. "They lost to Marist the week before, 2-1, and we knew they were capable. Hopefully, the girls will learn from that."

In the seeding loss to Marist, Kozanke doubled and singled to extend her hitting streak to 25 games. Calavan also doubled, and sophomore Taylor Walker singled twice and drove in both Outlaws runs. Freshman Harley Rowe also singled twice. 

But the miscues were untimely and opened the gates for a three-run Spartan fifth and a six-run Spartan sixth.

"It was much like our eight-inning loss to them earlier in the season," said Mauldin. "We gave 'em an opening and they broke down the door. Can't do that against a team like that."

The Outlaws junior varsity squad ended the season on May 13 with a 16-5 win over La Pine, giving them the Sky-Em title with a 12-0 record and a 19-2 overall mark.