North Marion pulled out an 8-7 win over Philomath to salvage the final game of the series in Oregon West Conference baseball on Thursday night. The Huskies scored the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth on a Philomath infield error.
Combined with Stayton’s 13-5 rout of Sweet Home, the outcome of the Philomath-North Marion game didn’t mean anything in the final standings. The Eagles take the conference title with an 11-4 record with Philomath and Cascade both at 10-5. The Warriors have a tiebreaker edge over Cascade by winning the season series and also having a much-higher OSAA ranking.
Had Philomath and Stayton tied for first, the Eagles would’ve had the tiebreaker advantage over the Warriors anyway. As such, Philomath will now await the release of the Class 4A playoff bracket. The team will play on the road Tueday against an opponent to be determined.
Philomath (14-12 overall, 10-5 Oregon West) had a 4-0 lead through 3-1/2 innings. The Warriors had scored a run in the second on a one-run single by Rustan Woosley, a run in the third on a one-run single by CK Kvidt and two runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Sammy Hernandez and Jayce Iverson reaching home on a wild pitch.
But the Huskies (6-19, 4-11) tied the contest in the bottom of the fourth. Cole Laninga had a two-run single to cut the home team’s deficit to one and the tying run came on a hit by pitch with the bases loaded — both of those coming with two outs.
The Warriors regained the lead in the sixth with two runs. Hernandez hit a bunt single and, combined with a North Marion error, Iverson came around to score on the play. Hernandez later scored for a 6-4 advantage.
North Marion tied it in the bottom half of the inning on a one-run double by Jaxon Peirce and a one-run single by Marcos Marquez.
In the top of the eighth, Philomath took the lead thanks to three consecutive batters reaching base when hit by pitches. With two outs, Caleb Babcock walked and then Kvidt, Gavin Bennett and Woosley were hit to force in a run.
But North Marion scored twice in the bottom half when Marquez hit a one-run single and Miguel Flores reached on an error while Wesley Anderson scored.
Jacob Hernandez and Iverson each had two hits for the Warriors with Woosley driving in two runs. Iverson started at pitcher and in six innings allowed 10 hits and two walks with five strikeouts. AJ Altishin took over to begin the seventh and in his 1-2/3 innings allowed two hits and no walks with three strikeouts.
For North Marion, Riley Jones went 3 for 5 and Colton Younce was 2 for 4 with a double and triple. Laninga and Marquez also had a pair of hits. Ozzy Arnold got the win at pitcher in relief of Peirce, who started and threw the first five innings.
North Marion 8, Philomath 7 (8)
Thursday, May 21, at Bob Brack Stadium, North Marion HS, Aurora
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E Philomath (14-12, 10-5) 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 1 7 8 3 North Marion (6-19, 4-11) 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 2 8 12 4
Iverson, Altishin (7) and Herbert; Peirce, Arnold (6) and Flores. W — Arnold. L — Altishin. 2B — Iverson (P), Younce (NM), Peirce (NM). 3B — Younce (NM).
Junior varsity: North Marion 16, Philomath 14.