Eagle baseballers edge Cougars 2-1

Turner – Stayton stole a 2-1 win from host Cascade Wednesday, April 2^nd., and base running was the story of the game.

Zach Stutzman went station to station to score in the third inning for the Eagles.

The one run margin disappeared in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Adam Hudspeth drilled a triple to the fence with two out, and Casey Johnson followed up with an RBI single for the Cougars.

Corbin Moberg got the lead back for Stayton in the sixth inning, starting with a single to left. Moberg proceeded to steal second and third, which allowed him to score on a sacrifice grounder.

Cascade rallied in the bottom of the sixth inning, when, with 2 out, Clint Olheiser singled, and Alex Elmore put two Cougars in scoring position, with a double to right center. But Eagle reliever Luke Loberg, who took over for Justin Anderson in the sixth inning, got out of the jam with a strike out.

Hudspeth, who was 3 for 4 on the night, singled to start the seventh inning, and stole both second and third, but Loberg got a strike out and a fly out to get within one out of the win.

Cascade put the winning run on base, but Loberg struck out Matt Usselman to bring the chilly evening to an end.

“Oh, Gee!” Stayton Coach A.J. Buckholz said, summing up the nail biter. “We just battled back and forth, and tonight, we got a little luckier!”

Cascade Coach Tom Lovell gave the Eagles the credit, noting “Stayton made plays when it counted. I’ve got to take my hat off to them. We put ourselves in a position to win, but couldn’t get it done. We got some tough breaks, and Stayton capitalized on their opportunities. They did all the little things they needed to win.”

Buckholz addressed the rivalry, known for being fierce, but respectful. “The rivalry is huge, with us being not 10 minutes away. Tom (Lovell) and his coaches are great guys, and so often our games are just like this. It’s always just fun when we play them. We don’t have anyone to hit home runs for us, so speed, pitching, and defense is how we play.”

The Stayton win knotted the Eagles with Cascade and North Marion all at 2-2 in the middle of the Capital Conference standings. Cascade dropped to 7-6 on the season, while Stayton improved to 3-4.

Stayton – 001 001 0 – 2

Cascade – 000 010 0 - 1

Cougar softballers clout Eagles for 9-0 win

Stayton – Cascade cruised to a 9-0 win over Stayton Wednesday, April 2^nd., in the first meeting of the season between the rivals.

Ashley Edwards had a single, a double, and a 3 RBI triple in the Cougars' five run fourth inning, which broke the game open.

Cascade scored twice in the second inning, and pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third, but batted around in the fourth inning, doing almost all the damage with two out. Tarran Fanger reached base to lead off the inning for Cascade, but a fly out and a sacrifice bunt left Fanger still on with 2 outs. Ashley Grucza singled to score Fanger, and the Cougars used an error and a walk to load the bases. Edwards then drove in Grucza, Jessica Slate, and Rachael Barnhart. Kassia Klagges drove in Edwards to put the Cougars up 8-0.

Slate also had a triple for Cascade, and Elayna Van Hess struck out 11 against 3 Eagle hits for the Cougars. Stayton’s Kelsey Sears limited the Cougars to 8 hits, but errors and miscues compounded upon the hits to produce the comfortable margin of victory.

Cascade coach Tim Ganfield observed “Ashley Edwards had a great game, and really got us going.”

Cascade’s win, coupled with an 8-0 win in Estacada on the preceding Monday, pushed the Cougars’ Capital Conference record to 3-1, one game behind North Marion. Cascade is 8-3 overall. It was Stayton’s first Capital Conference loss, as the Eagles dropped to third place, with a 2-1 recor, and a 4-3 overall mark.

Cascade got a 2 hit, 12 strikeout pitching performance from Melissa Juel in the win over Estacada.

Ganfield thought the warm, dry weather might have helped the Cougars, noting “After playing 4 games in Redmond at the end of spring break, this weather is almost balmy!”

Cascade – 021 501 0 – 9

Stayton - 000 000 0 – 0

CC

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it