Philomath freshman Hailey Smith went 4 for 5 and drove in three runs at the plate and pitched a near-complete game for the Warriors in a 9-8 victory Thursday at Newport.
Smith allowed six hits, three earned runs and two walks with five strikeouts over 6-2/3 innings. Smith moved to second base to begin the sixth inning but the coach put her back in the circle after the Cubs pulled to within 9-7 with one out. Newport added another run to cut the deficit to a single run but Smith helped the team get out of the jam with back-to-back infield popouts.
The game ended with Smith striking out the last batter with a runner in scoring position.
The Warriors (9-8 overall, 4-5 Oregon West) will face North Marion on the home field at 5 p.m. Monday. The Huskies edged Philomath in their first meeting this season, 11-9.
In the win over Newport, the Warriors led just 5-4 through five innings but scored four key runs in the top of the sixth. Senior Zoee Howard led off with a single and later came around to score on a single to left field by junior Emma May. Two batters later, freshman Libby Kramer hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate sophomore Haley King, who had reached base earlier in the inning when hit by a pitch.
Philomath went up 8-4 on senior Hannah Bennett’s single to left, which drove in May. And the lead swelled to five when Smith, who had singled earlier in the inning, scored on a ground out by senior Laighla Hockema.
Newport responded with those four runs in the bottom half but the Warriors held on to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Philomath also scored four runs in the fifth, highlighted by Smith’s two-run single to center to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead. Later in the inning with two outs, two more runs scored when Hockema reached on an error.
PHS scored a run in the first when King doubled and later scored on a ground out.
The Warriors and Cubs will square off for a third time on May 14 at Warrior Field.
