An unbeaten Cascade softball team took advantage of Philomath errors and left town with a 13-3 victory Thursday in an Oregon West Conference matchup.
The Cougars led just 4-3 through the first three innings but started to pull away with three in the top of the fourth — all unearned runs — and then added another six in the top of the fifth.
Down 3-0 in the bottom of the second, Philomath got on the scoreboard on a one-run single by senior Laighla Hockema. In the third trailing 4-1, the Warriors scored two runs on a two-run single by freshman Hailey Smith.
Philomath (7-5 overall, 1-2 Oregon West) was limited to three hits in the contest by Cascade pitchers Taylor Bays and Maddy Tingle. In addition to the singles by Hockema and Smith, senior Hannah Bennett had a one-out single in the second.
Smith went the distance for Philomath at pitcher with a stat line that included one walk and four strikeouts with just five of the 13 runs scored by the Cougars being earned. PHS committed 10 errors.
Juniors Cassidy Crabtree and Amyah Miranda each had three hits to lead Cascade (12-0, 3-0).
The Warriors are scheduled to play at home Monday against Newport (3-8, 1-2) with the first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m.
