Cascade junior Jaimen Whelden tossed a three-hitter, senior Brett LeDay hit a three-run homer and errors plagued Philomath in the 7-1 baseball victory for the Cougars Monday afternoon in the Oregon West Conference series opener between the two schools.
Warriors senior Brayden Shenk had a solid outing on the mound by allowing seven hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in a complete-game performance. All seven runs scored by the Cougars were unearned.
Philomath went up 1-0 in the second inning. Junior Kash Lindsey walked, moved up on a passed ball and Grant Niemann single and scored on a passed ball.
In the bottom of the third, Cascade pushed four runs across with passed balls and errors contributing to the scoring, although the Cougars also had three singles. In the fourth, LeDay homered to left field to put the home team up, 7-1.
Philomath made a little noise in the sixth inning by loading the bases with two outs. David Griffith singled, Lindsey walked and Chad Russell singled but they were all stranded on a fly out to center field.
LeDay and junior Taye Crumley each had two hits for Cascade (3-12, 1-6). Whelden allowed three hits and six walks with nine strikeouts in 6-2/3 innings of work.
The Warriors (8-5 overall, 3-2 Oregon West) will play a rescheduled game against Stayton at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Terry Stephenson Field. The series against Cascade then resumes with a home game at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and another trip to the Turner-area campus at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
