The Philomath High School baseball team ran into a hot team and an effective pitcher at Terry Stephenson Field Saturday afternoon in a 6-2 loss to La Grande.
The Tigers (17-3) slowly built a lead with a run in the third, two in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth. When in the field, La Grande kept Philomath bats from doing much damage behind the pitching of senior pitcher Jace Schow, who allowed three hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts in a 98-pitch complete game.
Philomath (10-10) scored twice in the bottom of the sixth. Mason Stearns and Caleb Babcock opened the inning with back-to-back walks and Wylie Griffith came off the bench and singled to load the bases. Stearns scored on a wild pitch and Babcock reached home on a ground ball put into play by Chad Russell.
The Warriors got their leadoff batter on base in the seventh on a Kash Lindsey single but La Grande’s Schow settled down and struck out two of the next three batters to end the game.
Babcock got the start for PHS and went five innings, allowing seven hits, three earned runs and two walks with four strikeouts. Wylie Griffith pitched the final two innings and allowed four hits, one earned run and no walks with no strikeouts.
La Grande, sitting at No. 5 in the OSAA rankings, extended its winning streak to six games.
Philomath is scheduled to get back into Oregon West Conference play Monday with a trip to North Marion. The series moves to Philomath Wednesday before wrapping up at North Marion on Thursday.
