The Philomath High School softball team saw its first action in 10 days Friday with a doubleheader split on the road at Marshfield. The Warriors dropped the opener, 19-11, before bouncing back in the nightcap, 6-0.
Freshman Hailey Smith threw a three-hitter, walked none and struck out nine in Philomath’s victory. It was the first shutout for the Warriors since May 4, 2022, when Philomath beat Woodburn, 15-0.
Philomath took a 1-0 lead in the second when senior Kaylie Kohler connected for a two-out triple to drive in senior Zoee Howard, who had reached earlier in the inning on an error.
The Warriors then put up five runs in the third inning. Freshman Rylee Martin reached on a bunt single but ended up on second after a Marshfield error. She then scored on Smith’s single to center field for a 2-0 PHS lead.
Two batters later, senior Hannah Bennett drove in Smith with a single to right field. Later in the inning with two outs, Bennett scored when Howard reached on an error. Then sophomore Haley King doubled to left field to send both senior Laighla Hockema, who had singled earlier, and Howard home for a 6-0 lead.
The Warriors had 10 hits in the game with Smith, senior Janae Traglia and Bennett each collecting two hits. At pitcher, Smith faced 24 batters in her complete-game performance and 51 of her 74 pitches were strikes.
In the first game, Philomath collected 20 hits but was unable to slow down the opponent in the eight-run loss. The Warriors had issues on defense with seven errors.
Philomath scored four in the top of the first for an early lead but the home team countered with six in the bottom half and led the rest of the way.
Smith went 5 for 5 at the plate. Martin, Traglia and Bennett collected three hits apiece. Hockema and freshman Libby Kramer each had a pair of hits. Bennett was especially potent at the plate with two doubles and three RBIs. King, Smith and Traglia also had doubles and Hockema drove in three runs.
Philomath is scheduled to play at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Molalla.
