Philomath High juniors Caleb Babcock and Wylie Griffith combined for a four-hit 8-0 shutout Friday in a postseason tuneup game against South Umpqua, a Class 3A school that is also headed to the playoffs.
Babcock went five innings and allowed just two hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts in a 72-pitch appearance. In the sixth inning, Warriors coach Levi Webber brought in Griffith for some work in what at the time was a scoreless game. Griffith allowed two hits and no walks with one strikeout while throwing 26 pitches in his two innings.
The Warriors will face Tillamook (15-9) in the first round of the 4A playoffs on Tuesday. As of Friday night, a start time for the game at Terry Stephenson Field had not been announced. The Cheesemakers, seeded 11th, and Warriors, seeded sixth, both earned automatic berths in the playoff bracket with runner-up finishes in their conferences.
In Friday’s game, Philomath’s offense couldn’t do much against South Umpqua senior starter Drew Camp, who limited the Warriors to three hits and no walks with eight strikeouts in four innings. The Lancers (18-8) then went to the bullpen to get other pitchers some time on the mound.
The Warriors (20-6-1) broke through in the sixth inning with an eight-run outburst. Junior Rocco De La Rosa set the tone by leading off the inning with a triple. Senior Grant Niemann, Griffith and Babcock hit doubles and the Warriors also drew some walks and took advantage of South Umpqua errors.
Babcock paired his performance on the mound with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate, which included two RBIs. De La Rosa went 2 for 4 and scored a pair of runs. South Umpqua junior Adam Whetzel had a pair of doubles.
Philomath 8, South Umpqua 0
Friday at Terry Stephenson Field, Philomath HS
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E South Umpqua (18-8) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 Philomath (20-6-1) 0 0 0 0 0 8 x 8 7 0
Babcock, Griffith (6) and Niemann; Camp, Black (5), Esterbrook (6), Graf (6) and Donner. W — Griffith. L — Esterbrook. 2B — Whetzel (SU) 2, Babcock (P), Niemann (P), Griffith (P). 3B — De La Rosa (P).