Philomath High’s bats went quiet at key moments Thursday as visiting Sweet Home pulled away late for an 8-3 nonleague baseball victory at Terry Stephenson Field.
The Warriors (5-8 overall, 1-1 Oregon West) scattered seven hits against Huskies senior pitcher Luke Rosa, who went the distance and kept Philomath from mounting any sustained threat.
Gallery: PHS baseball vs. Sweet Home (April 23, 2026)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 8-3 baseball loss at home to Sweet Home on Thursday,
“We just have kind of struggled as a team to string stuff together and get guys on base and put pressure on people,” Philomath coach Levi Webber said. “That’s why baseball is hard — when guys are throwing strikes and you’ve got to find ways to beat them.”
Sweet Home (6-6, 1-1) jumped on the Warriors from the opening pitch. Junior Kyle Zajic smacked a leadoff double to left field, and sophomore Damon Lawrence followed with a bunt single. Rosa drove in the first run on a groundout to second, and sophomore Conner Northern added a sacrifice fly to left for a 2-0 lead.
Philomath answered in the bottom of the fourth when senior Caleb Babcock drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on an infield single by junior CK Kvidt.
But Sweet Home responded in the fifth as Lawrence cleared the bases with a two-run triple to push the lead to 4-1.
The Warriors had hoped to exploit a Huskies defense that struggled with ground balls when the teams met earlier in the week.
“When we played them on Monday, defensively they weren’t very good against the ground ball and so we were hoping it’d be a little bit more hard grounders,” Webber said. “In the first four or five innings, we didn’t make them make a lot of plays on the ground. So, it was kind of like shooting yourself in the foot when you hit balls in the air to make it easy on them.”
Webber said his hitters have looked the part in practice.
“We put some good swings on some balls and hit some balls right at people but there were also a lot of soft-contact outs that were pop ups or strikeouts,” he said.
In batting practice, the coach added, hitters are putting “barrels at baseballs … they look good and they’ve got a good approach.”
“For whatever reason, when we show up in the games, it just hasn’t quite transferred all the way yet,” Webber said. “Hopefully we can find a way to compete a little bit better. I think that’s something we’ve struggled with a little bit this year — just being competitive for 21 outs every game.”
Sweet Home broke the game open in the top of the seventh with a four-run outburst. Rosa and Northern delivered RBI singles, junior Tregon Francis plated another run on a sacrifice fly, and a Philomath error allowed one more to cross.
The Warriors pushed back in the bottom half. Junior Rustan Woosley reached on an infield single off the bench with one out, and sophomore Jayce Iverson doubled to right-center to drive him in. Iverson advanced to third on the throw home and scored when sophomore Sammy Hernandez lifted a sacrifice fly to center.
Senior Wylie Griffith took the loss for Philomath, allowing 10 hits and one walk with four strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
“Wylie was great today,” Webber said. “Wylie did what we were expecting him to do. When he gets to the third or fourth time through an order, that’s when he’s going to give up some stuff and that’s what happened there in the seventh.”
Kvidt and Iverson each went 2 for 3 at the plate for Philomath.
For Sweet Home, Zajic finished 3 for 4 with two doubles. Lawrence went 2 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs, and Northern was also 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Rosa drove in two runs and scattered seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts on the mound.
Webber said the Warriors’ infield defense continues to improve as players gain varsity experience.
“We’ve got a lot of guys figuring out the varsity and I think we’ve kind of got that piece figured out,” he said. “It seems to rear its ugly head at the worst time … but overall, the defense has been much better.”
Bullpen consistency remains a work in progress.
“We still need to find a little bit more consistency with our guys coming out of the pen and just throwing strikes,” Webber said. “Once we can do that, I think we’ll be right where we want to be.”
The Warriors travel to Sweet Home for the series finale at 5 p.m. Friday. Webber said Iverson will start on the mound for Philomath.
Sweet Home 8, Philomath 3
Thursday, April 23, at Terry Stephenson Field, Philomath HS
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Sweet Home (6-6, 1-1) 2 0 0 0 2 0 4 8 10 0 Philomath (5-8, 1-1) 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 7 1
Griffith and Herbert; Rosa and Smith. W — Rosa. L — Griffith. 2B — Zajic (SH) 2, Iverson (P). 3B — Lawrence (SH).
Junior varsity: Philomath 9, Sweet Home 6.
