Red-hot Outlaws baseball on a roll

In a series of high-stakes matchups, Sisters Varsity Outlaws have won 12 of their last 13, and play four games this week, culminating in a doubleheader on Friday, May 10 — Senior Night.

Led by standout performances from key players like seniors Brody Fischer and Austin Dean, the Outlaws have demonstrated resilience, propelling them to success.

The team started the week with an overall record of 16-6, league record of 12-3, and OSAA Rank #5 in the 3A-4 Mountain Valley Conference.

Sisters, Pleasant Hill, and La Pine are tops in the league, as Head Coach Matt Hilgers predicted. Since then, the Outlaws won three games against La Pine, took two of three from Elmira, and won three in a row vs. Siuslaw/Mapleton.

The La Pine series began with a couple of close games and ended with an 11-1 blowout.

Against Elmira, the Outlaws earned an initial commanding victory over the Varsity Falcons. Fischer delivered four runs on four hits and sophomore Sebastian Storch earned the 7-1 win, surrendering two hits and one run (zero earned) with five strikeouts and a walk over five innings.

The next game, Fischer struck out 10 as the starting pitcher, blanking the Falcons 8-0. Storch and juniors Hudson Beckwith and Landen Scott collected two hits each; the team stole seven bases.

The Falcons sought redemption in Game 3.

“Our center fielder was out of the game due to shin splints,” said Tyson Storch. “That changed everything for us. We did have a great rally in the 5th, and came back from a 3-0 deficit to tie it.”

The Outlaws narrowly lost the closely contested battle, 3-4.

Undeterred by their setback, the Outlaws rebounded with authority in their next encounter against the Siuslaw Vikings, delivering resounding 10-2, 5-2, and 10-2 victories.

Bolstered by a six-run explosion in the third inning of Game 1, with Fischer and Beckwith leading the charge, Storch’s pitching arm stifled the Vikings’ offense. Fischer and Dean were pivotal figures in the series; Dean’s four-hit outing in Game 3 cemented Sisters’ status in the league.

With their sights set on future challenges, including Harrisburg (league) and Taft (non-league), the Outlaws remain focused on harnessing their talent and tenacity to close out the season.

“If we end up tied, we hold the tiebreaker over La Pine; Pleasant Hill holds the tiebreaker over us. La Pine and Pleasant Hill play each other in a doubleheader next week,” Hilgers explained.

Watch Outlaws Varsity Baseball Friday at home vs. Harrisburg on Senior Night at 3 and 5 p.m.