Back in her familiar position at the top of the order, Philomath High senior Kaylie Kohler broke out of a slump in the team’s 17-7 victory over North Marion Monday at Warrior Field.
Well, most might not refer to a .333 batting average over the past month as a slump — but it’s below Kohler’s expectations at the plate. In the win over the Huskies, she went 4 for 4 and drove in three runs as part of the team’s 22-hit assault on the visitors.
Gallery: PHS softball vs. North Marion (May 5, 2025)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 17-7 softball win at home over North Marion on Monday.
“We’d like to keep going strong,” Kohler said after the team’s second straight win. “We’d like to beat Newport and Sweet Home and North Marion and maybe make that top three to go to the playoffs.”
The top two teams in the final regular-season standings will earn automatic berths into the 4A bracket with Cascade and Stayton in control of first and second. The third-place team, meanwhile, will earn an opportunity to play its way into the playoffs and through Monday’s games, Philomath and Sweet Home were tied in that spot in the standings. In addition, the two highest-ranked teams that do not finish among the top three in their conference will also advance to the play-in round.
The hitting performance against North Marion, which included a pair of doubles, was actually Kohler’s first game in 11 days. She had missed the team’s previous three outings as a volunteer with Philomath’s Outdoor School program.
“Coming back and being able to hit like this is really empowering,” Kohler said with the team’s player of the game necklace hanging around her neck. “I think it helped keep the energy up through the game, too.”
Energy — it’s a term that’s come up a lot so far this softball season and as Kohler mentioned, there seemed to be no shortage of it in the win over North Marion. Cheers from the dugout seemed louder than usual and the players even appeared to have an extra kick in their step while on the field.
Sports roundup: PHS opens baseball series at Newport with 6-3 win
The Philomath High School baseball team opened a pivotal series against Newport Monday with a 6-3 victory on the road. The Warriors jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and junior Caleb Babcock threw a complete-game six-hitter in the team’s 11th straight victory. Babcock, who was throwing on his birthday and backed…
“We definitely needed it (the win),” Kohler said. “I feel like our energy was kind of depleting and the last time we played North Marion we lost to them. So being able to come back and beat them — and 10-run them — was really good for us.”
Kohler has been an anchor in center field this season and she had a couple of catches in the win.
“I like it out there,” Kohler said. “There’s a couple that have gotten by me — like on flukes or something — but I think I’m defending it pretty well out there.”
Down 2-0 in the second inning, Philomath (11-8 overall, 5-5 Oregon West) took its first lead with freshman Rylee Martin, senior Zoee Howard and junior Emma May all scoring runs. Martin reached home on a wild pitch and Howard appeared to have gotten herself caught in a rundown between third and home but she scored when the catcher threw the ball into left field. May scored on a ball put in play by freshman Hailey Smith.
After North Marion regained the lead in the third, the Warriors came back in the bottom half with five runs. Howard had a one-run single to tie the game, 4-4, and she later reached home on a North Marion error that put PHS on top. Kohler later hit a two-run double to left and Smith followed with a one-run single to right.
The Huskies squeezed out single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but Philomath’s bats never quieted down the rest of the way. In the fourth, the team added four runs with Howard, Kohler, Smith and senior Jenae Traglia all picking up RBIs.
In the fifth, the game nearly ended on the 10-run rule with the Warriors going up 15-6. North Marion struggled with errors in the inning but got out of the jam with a flyout to center. After the Huskies scored in the top of the sixth, Philomath ended the game with two runs in the bottom half. Sophomore Sierra Skaggs walked on four pitches with the bases loaded to force in a run. And then sophomore Haley King smacked a single to left field to drive in the game-ending run.
In addition to Kohler’s 4-for-4 performance, other top hitters for PHS included Martin (3 for 3, four runs scored), May (2 for 2, four runs scored), Smith (3 for 4, three RBIs), Howard (3 for 4, three RBIs) and freshman Libby Kramer (3 for 5, three runs scored).
In the circle, Smith threw four innings and allowed eight hits, two earned runs and one walk with four strikeouts. King threw the last two innings and allowed three hits, one earned run and two walks with a strikeout.
Sophomore Hailey Curths and junior Kendra Baylie each had three hits for the Huskies (6-11, 0-2).
Philomath will host Sweet Home at 5 p.m. Wednesday in a game for sole possession of third place.
Philomath 17, North Marion 7
Monday at Warrior Field, Philomath HS
Teams 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E North Marion (6-10, 2-7) 2 0 2 1 1 1 7 11 5 Philomath (10-8, 4-5) 0 3 5 4 3 2 17 22 3
Note: The game was stopped on the 10-run rule with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
No. 0*, Schliecher (4) and Curths, Shaffer (6); Smith, King (5) and Traglia. W — Smith. L — No. 0*. 2B — Kohler 2, Curths. 3B —Curths.
* Pitcher with uniform No. 0 not listed on North Marion’s roster.
