Baseball kicks off league with three straight wins

The Outlaws kicked off league play with a bang: Victories over Cottage Grove (CG), Sweet Home (SH) and Elmira. Sisters opened league with a 10-3 victory at home over the Lions on Monday, April 7, and two days later beat the Huskies 6-5 at home in Sisters. On Friday, the Outlaws blanked the Falcons 4-0 at Elmira.

Jonathan Luz hit a two-RBI single in the second inning to tie the game 2-2 in the Outlaws' match-up against the Lions on Monday. CG added a run in the top of the fourth, but Sisters answered with two runs in bottom of the inning to take a 4-3 lead.

Sisters tacked on three more runs in the fifth. Highlights of the inning included Luz's RBI single and Justin Harrer's triple to right center field, which scored Jarden Weems.

Three more runs in the sixth put the game out of reach and Sisters recorded the win.

Weems was the winning pitcher of record. Jarden also went 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI. Other stars at the plate included Luz, who was 2/4 with three RBI, Harrer, who recorded a triple for an RBI, and Cody Kreminski who was 3/4.

Sisters recorded 10 runs on 11 hits and committed four errors. The Lions had three runs on four hits and committed seven errors.

Two days later, the Outlaws held on in the seventh inning to record a win over the Huskies.

Sisters was on top 6-0 as they headed into the seventh inning. The Outlaws got one out and then gave up five runs. The big killer was that four players reached first base via a walk and an error, allowing Sweet Home to score two runs. The Outlaws managed to hold on for the win.

Weems had two clutch hits in the contest; an RBI single in the third and a two-RBI single in the fifth.

Sisters scored six runs on eight hits and committed three errors. The Huskies scored five runs on seven hits and had three errors.

Morgan was the Outlaws' winning pitcher, and is 3-0 on the season. Joey went 2/4 at the plate, and Ryan Funk had an RBI single.

The Outlaws wrapped up their week on the road and blanked the Falcons 4-0.

Harrer pitched five innings for Sisters and was the winning pitcher. Justin struck out seven batters and only walked one. Weems closed out the last two innings for the save.

Sisters scored four runs off seven hits and had one error in the game. All four runs came in the third inning.

In the third, Harrer took the plate with one out and hit a line drive to left field to score Luz and Weems, and put the Outlaws on top 2-0. With two outs, Kreminski hit a double down the left-field line and drove in Harrer and Larson.

"I'm happy we got through the first week undefeated," said Coach Steve Hodges. "We're leaving a lot of runners on base and we need to change that. We have to do a better job of hitting with runners on base. I'm very pleased with our pitchers who are throwing strikes.

"Freshman Ryan (Funk) is managing the innings well at catcher," added Hodges. "He threw out two runners today behind the plate. I'm pleased with his development and effort."

Harrer told The Nugget the team is gelling and getting better each time they play.

"We are coming along as a team," said Harrer. "We're pretty young, but that's not going to stop us. We just need to tie runs together to get the runs we need."

Sisters plays at home against La Pine on Wednesday, April 16, and two days later will hit the road with a game at Cottage Grove.