Outlaws post three league wins on the diamond

The Outlaws baseball team swung into league action last week, posting three consecutive wins. Sisters beat Cottage Grove 11-0 in five innings at home in Sisters on April 3, and a day later earned an 18-11 victory at Sweet Home. The Outlaws wrapped up their week with a 10-1 victory at home on Friday against Elmira.

Sisters jumped out early on Tuesday in their game against Cottage Grove.

In the first inning the Outlaws loaded the bases with no outs. Joey Morgan singled for two RBI, followed by Alex Olivier who hit an RBI single. Ben Larson hit a line drive to right field and brought in two runners to give the Outlaws a 5-0 lead.

The Outlaws scored two runs in the second, fourth, and fifth innings to secure the win.

Morgan went a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate and Jarden Weems, Nicky Blumm, and Eli Boettner all went 2/3. Blumm was the Outlaws' winning pitcher.

Coach Steve Hodges said, "We hit the ball well with guys on bases, and our pitchers had nine strike-outs with only one walk."

A day later the Outlaws traveled to Sweet Home and notched another league win in a hard fought three-hour-long contest.

The Outlaws scored the bulk of their runs in the fourth and the seventh innings.

In the fourth, Sisters scored five runs thanks to singles from Blumm, Weems, Morgan, Ben Larson and Alex Olivier and were on top 10-9.

After six innings Sisters held a 12-9 advantage. The Outlaws scored six runs in the seventh to put the game away. Weems, Morgan, Larson, Justin Harrer and Sam Calarco all got base hits which brought runners home.

Sisters had several players with multiple hits, including Weems who went 3/5 with four RBI. Harrer was 2/5 with four RBI and Sam Calarco was 2/5 with two RBI. Blumm was 2/4, Olivier was 2/3 and Ben Larson went 3/3.

"This was a very long game and it was a struggle," said Hodges. "They closed the gap several times and we came back swinging the bat. We showed mental toughness by not folding when they had a big inning. We came back and turned it on offensively and the put the game away."

The Outlaws tallied their final win for the week at home against Elmira on Friday.

Elmira scored their lone run in the first inning, and from there the Outlaws held them scoreless.

Sisters scored a run on an error in the bottom of the first to tie it up at 1-1. Sam Calarco drove in another run in the third on a sacrifice fly to center field.

In the fourth, Weems hit an RBI single and Morgan hit a double to left center, which scored Weems and Nicky Blumm and extended the Outlaws' lead to 5-0.

Five runs in the fifth brought the game to a quick end. Highlighting the inning was an RBI single from Weems, a two-RBI single from Eli Boettner and a hard line drive single from Ben Larson that brought home Olivier.

Harrer went 2/5, Weems and Boettner 2/3, Morgan 2/3 with a double, and Larson 3/3.

"Ben has gone 6/6 in his last six at-bats," said Hodges. "He didn't play last year due to injury, so this has been a pleasant surprise. He's hitting a lot of line drives and has had some great base-hits for us that have resulted in RBI for us."

Hodges also noted Joey Morgan, who pitched his first league game of the season.

"Joey had his slider and his fast ball going for us," stated Hodges. "He did a great job for us."

The Outlaws are 3-0 in league play and 10-2 overall. Sisters plays at La Pine on Wednesday, April 10, and then at home against Cottage Grove on Friday.