In the Media: North Marion shows poise, maturity in early wins over Wilsonville, Newport
AURORA – The spring baseball season may have only begun last week, but North Marion coach Randy Brack was pleased to see his Huskies come out in mid-season form in their 2-1 win in eight innings to open the year against Wilsonville High School on March 13.
“For an opening game, that was kind of surprising to have two teams play that well,” said Brack. “It was a late-season type of a game.”
The Huskies followed up the win with a 10-7 come-from-behind victory over Newport on March 15 to start the season 2-0 for the first time in four years. While the wins were welcome, Brack wa
s more concerned with the way in which the Huskies won. The game in extra innings against the Wildcats (1-1) and the ability to shake off a 4-0 deficit to oust the Cubs (1-1) gave Brack a sense of the maturity his young team possesses early in the season.
“That's good to see, because it gives you a chance to see how the kids are going to react to adverse situations, and we reacted the right way,” said Brack. “We kept our heads up and played through it.”
The Huskies were led by different players in each of their wins last week, a trend that Brack expects will continue throughout spring.
“We’ve got a bunch of kids who, in different ways, are really going to help us out,” said Brack. “We don’t have that one guy who is going to get a couple hits every game.”
In Wednesday’s game against Wilsonville, it was starting pitcher Wyatt Moore and relief pitcher Brock Breshears who stepped up to lead the team. The two combined to spread three hits and three walks through eight innings without allowing a single earned run.
With the game tied 1-1 after regulation, Keltin Boykin singled to shallow center and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Kendall. Kyle Williamson capped the win with a single to shallow left field that scored Boykin.
Two days later, it was Boykin again who got things started, this time in the bottom of the third with the team down 4-0. Boykin’s walk began an eight-run inning that was punctuated by Tristan Wampole’s grand slam over the left field fence to put the Huskies ahead for good. The Cubs continued to put pressure on North Marion, pulling within 8-7 after five innings, but Emry Patterson hit a two-run single to give the Huskies a little breathing room for the final inning.
“It’s kind of the way it’s going to be,” said Brack. “We’re going to spread it around a lot.”
The team will need a lot of help to make it through a preseason schedule that Brack calls the toughest his team has faced in his 27 years with North Marion.
“We want to test them and see what we’ve got and how we’ll react,” said Brack.
The Huskies have already faced one 5A team in Wilsonville, and they will host another when Marist travels north this week. They will also play two 6A clubs, including 2012 State Champion Oregon City. Other impressive teams from 2012 that are on the schedule include 3A simifinalists Horizon Christian and Valley Catholic – as well as 4A finalist Hidden Valley and Cowapa League Champion Scappoose, which eliminated the Huskies from the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
“You get out and see all these teams early on, and they’ll really prepare you once you get into league,” said Brack.
The tough schedule is designed to get North Marion ready to contend for the Tri-Valley league title after going 24-27 over the past two seasons.
“I don’t care if you’re starting nine freshmen or if you’re starting nine seniors,” said Brack. “We expect to compete for the league championship.”
Although the Huskies have qualified for the play-in round of the playoffs in the past two years, Brack wants his team to aspire to more this season.
“We talked about that a lot because we’re trying to get the kids to understand that they need to raise their expectations,” said Brack. “They were kind of happy knowing that they could finish fourth and get some kind of a playoff recognition. We’re trying to tell them that isn’t good enough.”
North Marion will continue its preseason schedule this week with a home game against Scappoose (0-2) on March 19 and another against Marist (2-0) on March 21. The Huskies will conclude the week by hosting a double header against Astoria (2-1) on March 23.