Facing a strong-throwing pitcher in Cascade senior Jaimen Whelden, the Philomath High baseball team needed to take advantage of its opportunities with runners on base. A tough arm to get through, 11 Warriors had walked back to the dugout in frustration after striking out.
In the fourth inning with the game tied 1-1, Philomath was presented with that opportunity after senior Mason Stearns singled down the third-base line and sophomore Caleb Babcock reached on an outfield error to put runners at second and third.
Gallery: PHS baseball vs. Cascade (April 22, 2024)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 4-1 baseball win at home vs. Cascade on Monday.
After Whelden got one of those strikeouts for the second out, Philomath junior Brady Russell settled into the box and came through by hitting the first pitch through the 6 hole to drive in Stearns and Babcock. Two innings later, he hit a two-out single to drive in another run as part of Philomath’s 4-1 victory.
“I hit a hard ground ball and it just went under his glove — lucky,” Russell said about his first hit. “And then on that last AB (at-bat), I was down on the count so I was thinking he’s throwing a curveball … threw me a fastball a little low so I just had to turn on it quick. He kind of jammed me a little bit but I got just enough to get it done.”
Russell finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs.
“I’m really proud of Brady for stepping up in those situations — the last one with two strikes and he punches one through to pick one up,” PHS coach Levi Webber said. “We did just enough but you know, that’s all you need sometimes.”
The Cougars (2-13 overall, 1-6 Oregon West) had trouble catching up with PHS junior Joe Barnes, who allowed two hits and four walks while striking out nine over six innings. Cascade did threaten in the first by loading the bases with Barnes hitting two batters and walking one but he worked out of it with back-to-back strikeouts.
In the third, Cascade’s Whelden hit a double to left field and was able to score on a ground out to the pitcher. But the Cougars were not able to get any hits off Barnes over the next three innings.
“At the start, I think they were just in my head over the first few innings but then I just blocked them out,” Barnes said. “Then I started doing what I usually do and focused on the batters one-by-one and just do what I do.”
Whelden went the distance for the Cascade.
“We knew the Whelden kid was going to be good — we saw him last year over at their place and he was really tough,” Webber said. “He had good numbers last year and he lost to North Marion 3-1 and beat Newport last week, so we knew we were going to have our hands full.”
Webber said it was the most complete outing turned in by Barnes since a shutout on April 2 at Madras.
“Early in the game, we kind of went away from his breaking ball and over the first few innings, we were just going to go fastball until they prove that they can get to it,” Webber said. “He did a good job of getting out of some jams and stuff and they finally got to it and put a run up but he came back and pitched … he got ahead and threw a ton of strikes, found his breaking ball and looked great.”
Stearns closed out the game in the seventh for a save. The Cougars picked up a one-out single to get a runner aboard but junior catcher Grant Niemann threw him out on a steal attempt and then Stearns ended it with a strikeout.
“We felt better sending Mason out there with a clean inning and starting him off with the 9 hitter so we felt that was a pretty good spot to put him in out there,” Webber said. “Joe was probably going to get maybe one or two more hitters because of his pitch count so we made that move and Mase did a great job and shut the door on them.”
Before taking the mound for the final inning, Stearns had been playing third base. It was the first time starting at that position since his freshman year when the Warriors had Cameron Ordway at shortstop. With Stearns at third, junior Kayson Olsen started at shortstop with sophomore Wylie Griffith at second.
“We’ve got a lot of options in the infield that we feel pretty good about,” Webber said. “It makes you feel a little better when you can throw somebody over there, especially a senior kid like that.”
Philomath (12-4, 7-0) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Babcock led off with a triple to deep center and then scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Niemann. Babcock also had a double and scored on Russell’s second hit in the sixth. He finished 2 for 3 at the plate and with three runs scored.
Philomath has now won 11 straight games and is off to a 7-0 start in the Oregon West. North Marion is also 7-0 following a 10-4 victory Monday at Newport.
“All of the team’s doing great, we’re all doing good at the plate,” Russell said. “No errors today — that’s huge especially against a team like this. And we’re all just having fun.”
The Warriors and Cougars will meet again Wednesday at Cascade before the series wraps up Thursday at Philomath.
