In the Media: Huskies finish regular season on six-game winning streak,

AURORA — Earlier in the season, North Marion baseball coach Randy Brack predicted that the team with the best record in the third round of league play would win the Capital Conference title.

With a 7-4 win over Stayton on Thursday and a 7-6 win over Gladstone on Friday, the Huskies closed out the regular season with a six-game winning streak and made Brack’s prediction come to fruition.

The Huskies (20-6 overall, 15-3 in league) won their first league title since 2005, with a three-game lead over second-place Cascade.

Neither game had any bearing on the standings last week for North Marion, which wrapped up first place and the No. 1 seed when Cascade defeated Gladstone on May 10.

However, Brack said he was proud of the way the team competed in what could be seen as two meaningless games.

Against Gladstone, Brack said the Huskies found a way to win the game, despite a variety of mistakes and bad moves on his part.

Trailing by two runs heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, North Marion rallied behind a single from Jordan Hopper and a double from Zach Borowczak, while capitalizing on several Gladstone errors.

Hopper scored the game-tying run, and Borowczak scored the game winner after Jake Foust reached base on an error.

“That, to me, said a lot about their character and the fact that they care an awful lot,” said Brack. “I was really round of them after that game. … It really meant nothing, but it ends up being a good game for us to end up on, heading into the playoffs.”

It marked the 12th one-run game the Huskies have been in out of 26 total games this season. Brack said that experience of being in so many tight ballgames could pay dividends in the postseason.

“Now, when we’re in a one-run ballgame, we don’t even think much about it,” he said. “It’s just kind of commonplace for us. A lot of teams would push the panic button it it’s close or it’s one run one way or the other. But with us, we’ve been there all year, so it makes no difference to us at all.”

During the Huskies’ current six-game winning streak, Brack said he continues to see solid pitching and defense from North Marion, as well as much-improved hitting compared to the early and middle portions of the season.

“I’m never going to say that I’m 100 percent pleased with the way we’re hitting the ball, because I think we still need to hit the ball better, but it was definitely better than the first two-thirds of the league season.”

The Huskies, ranked fifth in the latest Class 4A coaches poll, have a first-round bye in the state playoffs, and will host La Grande on May 25 in the second round of the state playoffs.

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