Huskies late-inning offense propels them past reigning champs
ASTORIA, Ore. - Brandan Hopper and Tristan Wampole combined to go 8-for-10 at the dish, Brandan scoring four times and Tristan driving in seven RBIs, to lead the Huskies offensive attack. The Huskies put forth their best effort offensively in recent memory, as they tallied ten runs off thirteen hits. In the past two seasons and to this point in this season, the Huskies have only achieved that thirteen-plus hit mark one other time, coming when the Huskies surprised Madras 12-2 in the last league game of last season.
North Marion ended Astoria's 21-game winning streak and handed the Fishermen their first home loss since league play in 2008.
The bats began early as the Huskies were up to bat first for the first time in the young 2012 season. Wampole, who truly had a game to remember, drove in both Kyle Williamson and Brandan Hopper to give the Huskies the early 2-0 advantage.
Astoria offered its rebuttal in its half of the day’s opening inning when the Fishermen picked up three runs of their own, coming off of two hits.
Into the second inning, Hopper, Wampole, and Moore all picked up hits for the Huskies as they tallied two more runs in this inning, reclaiming the lead.
Astoria stormed back to tie the game in the following half-inning, as they took advantage of a Husky error to score their lone run of the inning. The game sat at a 4-4 tie for the next few innings.
Danny Robles - the Huskies starter - lasted two innings on the mound, giving up just three hits while walking four. Brock Breshears replaced Robles beginning in the third inning, and Breshears had his stuff working for him. He lasted the final five innings and allowed just three hits while striking out five, and doing it in an amazingly low number of pitches: 54.
Both sides put zeros on the board throughout the middle three innings, but the Huskies woke up in the top of the sixth inning, as their offense was as strong as ever. Senior Zach Williamson earned his first base hit of the day, knocking the pitch up the middle. Kyle Williamson reached base due to being hit by a pitch, and Brandan Hopper followed right behind him with a single to shallow right-center, scoring Zach. Wampole continued his fabulous day with a single to shallow left field, which scored Kyle and moved hopper to third. Then on a gutsy call by Coach Randy Brack, he put the suicide squeeze on as Hopper darted from third base upon the pitcher's windup. The batter, Wyatt Moore, calmly laid down the bunt on a pitch high in the zone, granting Hopper plenty of time to slide home with ease. Both Wyatt and Brandan recieved a huge gathering upon their return to the dugout, as the duo had just completed a very good play. Royal also hit a single to drive in yet another run, rounding out the sixth inning scoring with four runs and four hits.
A momentum-booster that one could point to is an inning prior when Astoria threatened to take the lead as they had a runner breaking for home. Moore, in right field, picked up the ball which had just dropped in for a base hit and gunned it in to Robles at 2nd base, who then turned and gunned it to Barrell at the plate who tagged out the runner. The well-travelled group of Husky fans and the entire dugout erupted as the Huskies dodged another opportunity for Astoria to lead.
After sitting down Astoria in order in the bottom of the sixth, pitcher Brock Breshears switched roles and stepped into the batter's box, helping himself out with a base knock through the hole at shortstop. Two outs later, Hopper doubled down the left field line, moving Breshears over to third. Wampole stepped in and added two more RBIs to his stat line with a single to right field, which scored both Breshears and Hopper, and gave the Huskies their final margin of victory at 10-4.
Three Huskies had multi-hit days including the four from Hopper and four from Wampole, and two from Moore. Royal, Breshears, and Zach Williamson all added hits of their own to account for the thirteen North Marion hits. Although the Huskies did score ten runs, the opportunity for more was there, as they ended the day with ten runners left on base.
The game took exactly two hours to complete, and coming away victorious on the mound was Brock Breshears, who earned his first win on the season - a very well deserved win. North Marion handed Astoria their first loss of the season, as the Fishermen dropped to 2-1 after game one of the doubleheader. North Marion improved to 2-1 after the win.