A six-run sixth inning powered by AJ Altishin’s grand slam lifted the Philomath baseball team to an 8-5 victory over visiting Stayton on Wednesday at Terry Stephenson Field, evening the Oregon West Conference series at one game apiece.
The Warriors (7-9 overall, 3-2 Oregon West) trailed the fifth-ranked Eagles (13-3, 3-2) by three runs entering the bottom of the sixth before sending nine batters to the plate in the decisive frame.
Gallery: PHS baseball vs. Stayton (April 29, 2026)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 8-5 baseball win over Stayton at Terry Stephenson Field on Wednesday.
Sophomore Jayce Iverson opened the inning with an infield single, sophomore Sammy Hernandez was hit by a pitch and senior Wylie Griffith laid down a bunt to load the bases for Altishin, who had gone 0 for 3 against Stayton senior starter Jacoby Cruz earlier in the game. With Stayton having brought junior Myles Emmert on in relief during the previous inning, Altishin worked the count before delivering the swing of the game.
“On the first pitch, he threw me a little curve ball,” Altishin said. “I see that a lot and then I got a fastball belt high and did my thing with it.”
The grand slam gave Philomath its first lead of the contest at 6-5. The Warriors weren’t finished. After a fly out, junior Gavin Bennett doubled to right center and junior CK Kvidt drew a walk. With two outs, junior Rustan Woosley delivered a two-run single to center to push the lead to 8-5.
Senior Caleb Babcock, who had thrown six-plus strong innings on the mound, said he sensed momentum shifting once Altishin connected.
“I had a slow start — I felt good on the mound but then once you start rolling, it felt really good,” Babcock said about his pitching. “Once AJ hit that grand slam, I had a feeling that things were going to turn around.”
Babcock finished with 11 strikeouts over 6-2/3 innings, allowing five hits, one earned run and one walk on 111 pitches. He pointed to his curveball as the difference-maker against a Stayton lineup that has averaged nearly 10 runs per game this season.
“Early in the game, I was throwing it for strikes and then once it got toward the end, I was just so comfortable with it that I could almost throw it more for strikes than I could with my fastball,” Babcock said.
Babcock’s approach didn’t change despite Stayton’s offensive reputation.
“I just get ahead on the first pitch,” he said. “I don’t really change anything no matter who I’m facing but just try to get ahead early and hopefully it works out.”
Stayton opened the seventh with a single and a double, but Babcock retired the next two batters with a pop-up to the shortstop and a strikeout looking. Altishin entered in relief with two runners in scoring position and the tying run at the plate, then struck out the only batter he faced on three pitches to earn the save.
The Eagles had grabbed an early lead with a two-run single by sophomore Liam Brown in the second inning. Philomath answered in the bottom half when Kvidt scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Iverson. Stayton extended its lead with two runs in the fourth on a ball that skipped past both the third baseman and left fielder, then went up 5-1 in the fifth on a Philomath error.
The Warriors cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fifth. Babcock walked, Bennett doubled to left and Kvidt reached on an error to plate a run. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat with additional runners on base.
Altishin acknowledged the quality of Stayton’s pitching staff, which had limited Philomath’s scoring chances through the first five innings.
“They’ve got a good group of starters — they throw hard enough and then they can mix it up with their off-speed,” Altishin said. “They throw strikes well and that’s hard to do, especially in high school.”
Bennett led the Warriors offensively, going 3 for 4 with two doubles. Griffith finished 2 for 4, and Woosley was 2 for 3 with two RBIs.
For Stayton, leadoff batter Isaac Meeker went 2 for 4 with two doubles. Cruz worked 4-2/3 innings and allowed four hits, one earned run and four walks with five strikeouts. Emmert took the loss after giving up five hits, six earned runs and one walk with two strikeouts in one inning of work. Senior Owen Mitzel threw one-third of an inning with a strikeout.
Wednesday’s win came two days after Stayton walked off Philomath in the series opener, but Altishin said the Warriors put that disappointment behind them quickly.
“That’s not something that held us back,” Altishin said. “So, honestly, you want to just keep the same mindset and work off the previous 6-2/3 innings versus whatever happened in the last one (inning) and just brush it off and come back in with the same aggressiveness as we did today and do great things.”
Both players framed the win as significant for league positioning rather than rankings.
“It’s all about league (play) for us right now — that’s our mindset,” Babcock said. “We’re not looking at rankings or anything like that and just focusing on league. Getting this one’s big because it doesn’t just give us confidence in league but also how we know we can perform against a good playoff team like this.”
The series concludes at 5 p.m. Thursday in Stayton, with Altishin saying the Warriors plan to carry the same approach into the rubber match.
“Same competitiveness and same aggressiveness we came in with today,” he said. “I mean, nothing’s a given tomorrow, so we’ve still got to go out and earn it.”
Philomath 8, Stayton 5
Wednesday, April 29, at Terry Stephenson Field, Philomath HS
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Stayton (13-3, 3-2) 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 5 5 3 Philomath (7-9, 3-2) 0 1 0 0 1 6 x 8 9 5
Cruz, Emmert (5), Mitzel (7) and Thiessen; Babcock, Altishin (7) and Herbert. W — Babcock. L — Emmert. S — Altishin. 2B — Meeker (S) 2, Bennett (P) 2. HR — Altishin.
Junior varsity: Stayton 12, Philomath 1.
