Huskies find all corners of ballpark in 7-3 win
PHILOMATH - On a day where North Marion starting pitcher Matthew Robinson was sharp and the offense collected five extra-base hits, the Huskies topped Philomath 7-3 in a critical game in the Oregon West Conference.
With the victory, North Marion (11-12, 8-4) took a two game lead over Philomath (12-9, 6-6) for the second place spot in the Oregon West Conference standings. Cascade also lost, giving North Marion a two-game hold on second place.
Philomath starter Carson Calder came out shaky, yielding walks to two of North Marion's first three batters. Jordan Kendall fit his cleanup role perfectly, scoring both runners on a double to left-center field to put the Huskies up 2-0.
Robinson (3-1, 4.03) got his fine day on the mound started with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the first.
North Marion used every corner of the ballpark in the third to extend its lead to 5-0. Andy Schmitz, Emry Patterson, and Dylan Doubrava all recorded extra-base hits in the frame and all three were brought into score.
A Kendall double in the fourth and a Hunter Beachy sac fly in the seventh gave the Huskies their final run total of seven on the day.
Robinson navigated the Huskies through the first four innings without allowing a hit to Philomath. The Warriors finally scored one run on one hit in the fifth and two runs on three hits in the seventh. Still, Robinson had plenty of run support to pick up his third win of the season in his second consecutive Friday night start.
After Wednesday's complete game victory from Beachy, it marked the first time the Huskies won on back-to-back complete games by their pitcher since the 2014 playoffs (Breshears vs. Hidden Valley, Kendall vs. La Grande).
Kendall finished the day with three hits, two of which were doubles. Kendall marks the first Husky to record back-to-back three-hit games since Brandan Hopper did so in April 2012. The senior finished the week batting 7-for-12 (.583) with five doubles and seven RBIs. It was the first time since stats have been archived in 2010 that a Husky had back-to-back games with two doubles.
Schmitz picked up his first career triple, North Marion's second of the 2015 season. The Huskies mark of five extra-base hits set a season-high and was the most since the 2014 regular season finale at Madras.
The Huskies close out the 2015 regular season next week with three games, two of which will be played in the friendly confines of Bob Brack Stadium. North Marion opens the week on Monday, hosting Stayton. The Huskies travel to Newport on Wednesday before hosting the regular season finale and senior night vs. Cascade on Friday. All games are scheduled to start at 4:30pm.