The Philomath High School baseball team got in one final game before entering the Class 4A playoffs with a 1-0 loss Thursday at Banks.
The 10th-seeded Warriors will travel to seventh-seeded The Dalles for a first-round game at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Quinton Street Ballpark. The Dalles brings a 20-7 overall record to the scrap while Philomath stands at 18-8.
Philomath couldn’t get any offense going against Banks pitcher Lane Gilbert. A sophomore, Gilbert threw a no-hitter and allowed only one base runner while striking out eight and walking none.
Banks, which enters the postseason with a 22-4 record and No. 2 ranking in Class 3A, scored the game’s lone run in the fifth inning. Gilbert led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Wyatt Hesselman. A ball hit back to Philomath pitcher Caleb Babcock resulted in the second out but Ashton Crossen came through with a clutch hit to get Crossen home.
Brady Russell was the only base runner all afternoon for the Warriors when he was hit by a pitch in the second inning. And that would be it for offense as the game moved along quickly with Gilbert and Babcock dueling on the mound.
Babcock went five innings and allowed five hits, one run and two walks with four strikeouts. Logan Matthews pitched the sixth and had a 3-up, 3-down inning.
Offensively for the Braves, all five hits were singles and scattered among five players.
