Outlaws takes first at Salt River Baseball Classic

The boys baseball team cleaned house at the Salt River Baseball Classic in Scottsdale, Arizona, held March 21 through 23.

Sisters lost 4-2 to Scottsdale Prep in their first game of pool play on Thursday, but from then on they marked wins in the record book and finished on top.

The Outlaws wrapped up pool play on Friday with games against Northland Prep of Flagstaff, Arizona; and St. Johns, of St. Johns, Arizona.

Joey Morgan was Sisters' winning pitcher in their 11-0 victory over Northland Prep in six innings.

Justin Harrer, Nicky Blumm, Sam Calarco and Morgan all had multiple hits in the game.

Sisters went on and beat St. Johns 11-6. Jarden Weems was the winning pitcher.

St. Johns' pitcher had trouble throwing strikes and walked several batters. The walks, coupled with some timely base hits, resulted in an Outlaws win and brought an end to pool play.

The Outlaws faced Santiam Christian, of Corvallis, in the semi-finals on Saturday and walked away with a 3-0 victory.

Harrer pitched a complete game for the Outlaws and did a great job on the mound. Justin challenged hitters, got ahead in the count and threw pitches for strikes. Harrer posted eight strike outs in the game.

"Justin had his best pitching performance of his high school career," said Coach Steve Hodges. "He kept their hitters off balance and just did an outstanding job."

Calarco was big at the plate for the Outlaws and hit two singles for two RBI.

Sisters went up against Scottsdale Prep in the championship game and redeemed themselves from their earlier loss to them in the first game of pool play. The Outlaws recorded a 10-0 win in just five innings.

Eli Boettner hit a triple in the third inning that drove in three runs and gave Sisters a 3-0 lead. The Outlaws blew the game wide open in the fourth. Singles from Billy Biggers, Alex Olivier, Harrer, Blumm, Calarco and Morgan resulted in seven runs and put the Outlaws on top 10-0.

Blumm was the Outlaws' winning pitcher and did a great job on the mound for Sisters. Nicky, like Harrer in the previous game, threw strikes and challenged hitters.

Hodges noted Blumm for his outstanding offensive performance for the entire tourney.

"Nicky did great as our lead-off hitter," said Hodges. "His on-base percentage was right at .675 and he had a great hitting performance of .585 for the tournament."

Of the annual event Hodges said, "It was great to play a lot of games in a short amount of time in great weather. The biggest surprise was our pitchers. We realized we're pretty deep. We have six guys who can throw strikes and compete."

The Outlaws matched up against Santiam Christian in a non-league game on Tuesday, March 25, before teams headed home. Sisters won the contest 4-0.

Morgan, Weems and Boettner all shared time on the mound. Sisters gave up one hit in the seventh inning with one out.

Calarco and Weems both had a good day at the plate and went 2/2 and 3/3 respectively.

The Outlaws were to play Monday, April 1, at Cottage Grove, in their first league game of the season. Sisters plays Wednesday, April 3, at Sweet Home and two days later will play at home against Elmira.