Stellar pitching continues, Huskies claim momentous win

MILWAUKIE, Ore. - Following a near no-hitter on Tuesday by Wyatt Moore, Brock Breshears continued the success in Huskies' pitching as of late. Breshears held the La Salle Falcons (14-8 Overall, 8-4 League) to a measly two hits as a team, taking just 81 pitches to mow down the La Salle lineup. The Huskies' offense helped Breshears out on the other end of things, as North Marion notched eight base hits, resulting in the five runs while the team drew five walks. In one of the most exciting wins of the season for the Huskies, the momentum is beginning to roll for a great regular season ending stretch of baseball.

To kick things off in the top of the first, Kyle Williamson got the blood flowing as he knocked a ball to deep center field. The well-hit ball was caught, but the good contact was enough to get the ball rolling in the inning. Zach Williamson posted the game's first hit on the board with a single to right-center field. After moving up a base on one of Zach's four steals on the day, he was in scoring position for Brandan Hopper. Hopper took advantage of the RBI opportunity by singling up the middle, on a ball that the Falcons middle infield just could not handle. Zach glided home from second on the play, and North Marion held an early 1-0 lead.

La Salle scored a run in the following frame, as North Marion essentially took five outs to get out of the inning. An awkwardly-hit ball to third base was bobbled resulting in a La Salle runner, and an attempted fielder's choice could not be completed on a dropped ball, resulting in another Falcon aboard. However, the Huskies played an outstanding game of damage control as they have been good at as of late, allowing just one run to cross the plate in the bases-loaded situation.

The 1-1 tie held steady through the second inning, as Robles could not be scored after advancing to third in the second inning. However, North Marion plated another run in the third. It was back to the top of the lineup and history repeated itself, as Kyle Williamson was a circus catch away from a hit once again. With runners on second and third - who had reached via walks - Tristan Wampole grounded out, allowing Zach Williamson to score from third. North Marion led 2-1 after the inning.

In the ensuing fourth inning, Danny Robles started things off, beating out an infield single. Reminiscent of the second inning, Robles was scooted along to second and third, but this time Brock Breshears pulled through with a base knock to send Danny home.

La Salle ended Brock's no-hitter with one out in the fourth inning, as a lazy pop fly managed to find its way in for a single, dropping into shallow center field.

The game remained at 3-1 until the sixth, when La Salle put the pressure on in the bottom of the sixth. But just an inning prior, the Huskies had some start-studded defensive plays courtesy of Danny Robles and Zach Williamson. On a ball hammered up the middle by a Falcon, Robles - at second base - dove and stopped the ball from getting past them. He promptly collected the ball, got on his feet, and threw the man out at first base. A debatebly more impressive play came on the next batter, on a ball that was driven deep into left field foul territory. Zach Williamson was playing quite a bit over towards center, but that did not stop him from using his speed to track down the ball in foul territory and dive to make a fabulous catch. In the sixth inning - an inning again with no La Salle hits - the Falcons scored a run on a sacrafice fly to slice the Huskies lead in half at 3-2.

North Marion responded with some insurance runs in the top of the seventh, bracing themselves for the possibility of a La Salle comeback in the bottom of the inning. Brock opened the inning, drawing a walk and was later scored off of a perfectly placed hit by Zach Williamson, keeping a ball just fair down the right field line. Zach scored off of a stolen base as Wampole distracted the Falcon's infield by darting to second base. The bases were left loaded in the inning, but the Huskies came away with a 5-2 lead.

Breshears started off the bottom of the seventh with a four-pitch walk, keeping the door open for La Salle. But the standout Huskies' defense made another terrific play once again. A La Salle pinch hitter lined a ball right to the glove of Tristan Wampole at first base, who was in the perfect position to make the catch. The runner at first via the walk was caught completely off guard, enough time for Wampole to tag his base to record the two-out play.

Brock Breshears' stat line on the day was two hits allowed coinciding with just one earned run allowed. Although Breshears did not strike anyone out, he only walked three batters and used just 81 pitches to defeat La Salle. Offensively, Danny Robles and Zach Williamson led the Huskies with two-hit days of their own. Zach came across to score three times for North Marion. Also earning base hits on the day were Hopper, Moore, Patterson, and Breshears. North Marion finished the day with five runs on eight hits, with just the two first inning errors.

After being so close two beating La Salle on two different occasions, it felt amazing from a Huskies' standpoint to finally pull out a win. In one of the most exciting wins of the season, the Huskies pull back to even in conference play with their 6-6 record. Next up, North Marion will round out the regular season with Monday, Wednesday, and Friday games at Gladstone, Home vs. Estacada, and Home vs. Madras respectively. All games begin at 5pm. Come out and support whenever possible, as these games are going to have a huge impact on final conference standings and playoff opponents.

#2012 #regularseason #gamerecap