The Philomath High School softball team split a pair of games Monday at the North Medford Spring Break Tournament with a 10-8 victory over Elmira and a 5-4 loss to Willamina.
In the opener vs. Elmira, which had a start time of 8 a.m., the Warriors got into a 2-0 hole in the first inning before rallying for six in the top of the second. Philomath never trailed again although the Falcons closed the gap over the last few innings by scoring the game’s last three runs.
Sophomore Haley King got the Warriors on the scoreboard with a one-out, two-run double to tie the score. Sophomore Sierra Skaggs followed with a double to drive in King for the lead. Skaggs later swiped home for a 4-2 PHS lead.
Later in the inning, senior Jenae Traglia had a one-run single and senior Hannah Bennett followed with a one-run triple for a 6-2 advantage.
The Warriors added another run in the third when senior Lilia Leman singled, took second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a double by freshman Libby Kramer and scored on a ground ball that Skaggs put into play.
Philomath added three more runs in the fourth. Freshman Hailey Smith singled and later scored on an error. Then with two outs, Kramer drove in a pair on a single.
The Warriors had 11 hits in the game with Kramer going 3 for 3 and two RBIs and Traglia finishing 2 for 2. Skaggs drove in three runs. In the circle, King started and allowed four hits, three earned runs and six walks with six strikeouts in four innings. Senior Laighla Hockema pitched one inning and allowed one hit, one run and no walks.
Philomath’s second game of the tournament came down to the final out. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Kramer stole home to cut Willamina’s lead to 5-4 but Philomath’s trailing base runner was thrown out at third to end the game.
Willamina (2-0) opened its season at the tournament with back-to-back games against Salem Academy and Philomath. The Bulldogs posted an 11-1 win in its opener before edging the Warriors.
Philomath led 2-0 through the first inning on a two-run double by Bennett. The Bulldogs tied the score in the top of the fourth but the Warriors regained the lead in the bottom half. With two outs, senior Kaylie Kohler reached when she was hit by a pitch and Smith followed with a triple to left field for a 3-2 lead.
Willamina again tied the score in the fifth inning and then went up in the sixth with a pair of runs to set up the dramatic ending.
Smith and junior Emma May each went 2 for 3 to lead PHS offensively. Smith went the distance at pitcher and allowed 10 hits, five runs and five walks with seven strikeouts.
Philomath will play two more games Tuesday at the tournament with matchups against Amity (1-1) and Salem Academy (0-2).
