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| Huskies complete sweep of Molalla |
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| North Marion beats Molalla 4-1 on senior night, Friday, behind solid pitching and timely hitting |
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 | | Photo By Garrett Rudolph | | North Marion senior Josh Wills pitched one of his best games this season in the Huskies 4-1 win over Molalla on Friday. |
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By Garrett Rudolph
AURORA - The North Marion baseball team, needing a win to keep itself in contention for second place in the Capital Conference, stepped up to the challenge and defeated Molalla 4-1 on senior night, Friday.
While in past games, the Huskies had shown moments of inconsistency that came back to haunt them, the team never seemed to lose focus on the task at hand, putting together seven solid innings of play to knock off the rival Indians for the third time this season.
Senior pitcher Josh Wills said team unity was one of the biggest factors for success, both on Friday night, and for the rest of the season.
"We all just came together," he said. "Act like a team and be a team. That's what we were tonight. If we can keep that up, we can go far in state."
In many ways, it was the game North Marion head coach Craig Lambert had waited all season to see; however, Lambert was attending his son's college graduation, leaving assistant coach Mike Lippman at the helm.
Lippman felt there were several keys to the Huskies' performance.
"A positive attitude, aggressive baserunning, a couple of key hits and a stellar job on the mound," he said.
Wills pitched one of his best games all year, allowing just four hits and four walks in seven innings. Only two Molalla runners made it to third base all game.
"(Wills) was highly motivated," said Lippman. "He really wanted to throw the seniors' last game (at home) ... There were times when he could have gotten in trouble, but he got himself out because he wanted it. He's been pulled out after a couple innings before, and he wanted to make sure that didn't happen and last start he didn't finish and he wanted to make sure that happened ... He threw all his pitches, had pretty good location, kept them off balance."
Molalla also got a solid performance on the mound, from Jake Moore, who allowed six hits, and two walks in six innings, but North Marion was able to take advantage of opportunities when it had baserunners.
In the bottom of the third, Robert Paradis hit into a fielder's choice, to knock in AJ Basille for the Huskies' first run of the game. The next batter, Carl Mason brought in Zack Miller from third base with a bunt single that gave North Marion a 2-0 lead.
Zack Miller was the only Husky with multiple hits, a single and a double.
In the top of the fifth, Molalla cut the lead in half, as Riley Falk drew a leadoff walk, and later came around to score on a passed ball.
North Marion did some more damage in the sixth, as Boomer Miller and Cheyne Fobert drew a pair of walks - the only two allowed in Moore's six innings of work - and Steven Grigsby made the Indians pay, by drilling a two-out double into the gap in right-center field.
The 4-1 lead turned out to be plenty for Wills, although the Indians brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning. With runners on second and third, Peter Russell hit a line drive that was caught by shortstop Robert Paradis and turned for an unassisted double-play to end the game.
Lippman said not counting North Marion, he considers Molalla to be the second-best team in the league, behind Gladstone, and was proud of the way the Huskies played against the Indians in all three games.
"They're a good team, and we've played three good games against them," he said. "I don't know why we play well, every time against these guys, but that was pretty big, and now we've got some teams we should beat. If we do our job, we have a pretty good shot at being second. It gives us momentum, and our kids are an emotional team, so if we're playing with some positive enthusiasm, that's a good thing."
Molalla is the only team to have beaten Gladstone in a league match this season.
The Huskies (10-6) are currently in third place, behind Gladstone (13-3) and La Salle 11-5), but the top two teams still have one more game against each other, and North Marion holds the tie-breaker over both La Salle and Molalla.
This week, North Marion will play Stayton (3-11) on Wednesday, and Estacada (0-15) on Friday to close out the regular season.
"We just need two more big wins, but we can't underestimate Estacada and Stayton," said Wills. "Stayton's come back a lot, stayed with everybody else, so we just have to be like we were tonight."
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