The Philomath High baseball team appears to be having a lot of fun. Through the first six games this season, the Warriors have lost just once on the strength of effective pitching and timely hitting.
Senior Grant Niemann, one of the team’s veteran players that has seen the program go through ups and downs over the past few years, can sense a positive vibe on and off the field.
“I feel like this team’s really close with each other,” Niemann said after Philomath’s latest victory, a come-from-behind 6-3 victory Friday over Crescent Valley. “We really know how to laugh with each other and we don’t have much bickering unlike past teams I’ve been on.”
Although having fun can give teams a mental edge in some respects, it’s execution on the field of play that is the difference between wins and losses. The Warriors have on more than one occasion this spring figured out ways to add to the win column.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, the Warriors put together a five-run outburst to knock the wind out of the 5A Raiders. The visitors scraped out a run in the seventh but the game ended with two of the final three batters striking out looking.
Said coach Levi Webber, “That’s the name of the game — find a way to win and that’s what we did today.”
Defeating a larger school from neighboring Corvallis provides an extra layer of satisfaction to the players.
“We’ve got a ton of respect for (coach) Scot (McDonald) and his program and the kids have grown up playing against these guys,” Webber said. “It’s fun to beat the 5A schools on your schedule and it’s really fun when your guys show up and compete and play the way we did today.”
Niemann, who went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, said the team simply came through.
“We were down till late there in the sixth and we found a way to pull it off,” Niemann said. “We were getting nice hits here and there — it felt really good.”
Webber appreciated what he saw out of his team on offense, including sophomore Nate Bennett’s infield single to open the sixth and a solid 2-for-3 effort from junior Wylie Griffith, who batted ninth in the lineup.
“Nate did a great job on that ball legging it out to get things going,” Webber said. “Wiley had a pretty good day at the plate — swinging the bat and getting on base for us. It was just one of those team effort games.”
Philomath scored the game’s first run in the third on a double by senior Brady Russell. Niemann, who led off the inning with a double, scored on the play.
Crescent Valley took the lead with a pair of runs in the fourth with a Philomath error in the outfield, a sacrifice fly by sophomore Rylan Mosbrucker and a one-run double by sophomore Cason Jacobs all contributing.
The Warriors then put together the big sixth inning with a five-spot on the scoreboard. Bennett, Griffith and Hernandez all singled to load the bases with no outs. Philomath tied the score on a ball that Babcock put into play. Crescent Valley went home with the throw in an attempt to get the base runner on a force but Bennett beat it out.
Niemann followed with a two-run single to give the Warriors the lead for good. Babcock and Niemann scored insurance runs later in the inning.
“There in the sixth, it was just competing,” Webber said. “We didn’t hit the ball super hard but you make them make plays and hopefully good things happen. And that’s what happened for us there in the sixth.”
The Raiders came up with a run in the seventh when Shoeffler was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a Mason Riney single and scored on a ground-ball out by Mikey Terry.
Webber admitted that Philomath’s starting pitcher, Caleb Babcock, was a little off on the mound.
“He was kind of all over the place early on … later there in the fourth, fifth and sixth, he settled down a little bit,” Webber said. “I was proud of him for how he competed with not having his best stuff. But he pitched well enough to give him an opportunity to pitch deep into the game, which is what we needed.”
Webber said the team is a bit short-staffed right now, which made Babcock’s six innings of work all the more important. He finished with a respectable stat line that included five hits, one earned run and four walks with 10 strikeouts.
Webber went to sophomore Jacob Hernandez to close out the game in the seventh.
“Jacob for his first varsity outing did a good job throwing strikes,” Webber said. “When we get good leads late in the game … it’s all about throwing strikes and forcing them to beat us. And he did that great.”
The Warriors (4-1-1) finished the game with 10 hits that were scattered up and down the lineup — eight of the nine batters had a hit. Riney led the Raiders (1-5) with a 3-for-3 effort.
Philomath will play at home again Saturday with a noon start against La Grande (2-4).
