Three home runs highlight victory over Ridgeview

The Outlaws tallied three home runs in their 14-8 win at Ridgeview on Monday, May 13. Three days later they recorded a 4-1 win at Santiam Christian, one of the top 3A teams in the state. Both games were added into the Outlaws' schedule to help them prepare for the upcoming playoff games.

On Monday, Sisters tallied 14 runs on 16 hits and five errors while Ridgeview had nine hits and zero errors for the night. Joey Morgan pitched five innings and was the winning pitcher of record. Nicky Blumm and Eli Boettner closed out the sixth and seventh innings.

Sisters got two runs in the top of the first inning against the Ravens to get the scoring started. Jarden Weems drove in Justin Harrer with an RBI single up the middle and Joey Morgan connected for a solo home run to give the Outlaws a 2-0 lead.

Ridgeview tied it up 2-2 in the bottom of the third but couldn't keep the Outlaws off the bases. In the top of the fourth Ridgeview walked the bases loaded and Eli Boettner stepped up to the plate and ripped a two-out triple to clean the bases. Ben Larson scored on a pass ball at home plate and Sisters went up 6-2.

The Ravens got three runs in the bottom of the fourth to close the gap to 6-5.

Sisters' offense answered back with six runs in the top of the fifth. Cody Kreminski got on with a walk and Larson and Nicky Blumm followed with singles to load the bases. Harrer's base hit scored two and Weems followed with a single to reload the bases. The highlight of the inning came next, with Joey Morgan's grand-slam home run, a laser line drive that flew over the left field fence 345 yards to push the Outlaws to a comfortable 12-5 advantage.

Harrer knocked the ball out of the park for a solo home run to highlight the seventh inning and Ryan Pollard's sacrifice fly scored Sisters' final run.

Ridgeview tacked on one run in the sixth and their final two in the seventh inning for a final score of 14-8.

Coach Steve Hodges said, "Ridgeview is a good team and very competitive. They swing the bats and can score runs, so it was good for us to play against such a good team. We didn't play our best game and we had an uncharacteristic five errors, but our offense certainly was in high gear."

It was a much tighter contest against Santiam Christian on Thursday. The Outlaws only got six hits in the game, but stellar defense and good pitching helped pull off the victory.

Sisters got their first run of the contest in the second inning. Morgan led with a single and Calarco followed with a single to right field which pushed Morgan to third base. Eli Boettner's fielder choice scored Morgan and put the Outlaws on top 1-0.

The Outlaws tallied their final three runs in the sixth. Harrer got on base via a walk, stole second and then advanced to third on a fielders choice. Justin scored on an error from the Eagles' first-baseman who tried to pick him off at third. Morgan followed with a solo home run that sailed over left center field, and marked his third home run in the past two games.

Calarco hit a single to left field and Boettner followed with a double to left center which scored Hayden Martinez from first for Sisters' final run. (Martinez was a pinch runner for Calarco.)

Santiam scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth.

Harrer pitched six innings for the Outlaws and earned the win. Weems pitched the seventh for the save. Jarden struck out Santiam's No. 4 hitter, Archer, with runners on second and third with two outs.

"The pitchers looked great," said Hodges. "They did a good job of throwing strikes and pitching out of jams.

"Our defense also played well," added Hodges. "Ryan (Pollard) made a diving catch in center field and Nicky (Blumm) made a diving play at shortstop."

The Outlaws have worked hard, and Hodges told The Nugget they are ready to elevate their game and take it to the next level.

Sisters face Astoria at home on Wednesday, May 22, in the first round of playoffs.