The Lake Oswego baseball team picked up a pivotal non-league win in a game between two preseason top-five teams on Thursday, March 21, outlasting Sherwood 1-0 in a defensive battle at Lake Oswego High School.
The Bowmen, ranked fourth in the preseason 6A coaches poll, had runners on second and third with one out in the top of the first, but after Lakers junior pitcher Elliott Wear shut down the initial threat with a strikeout and a groundout, Sherwood never put another runner on third all game long.
A one-run bottom of the third ultimately proved to be the difference in a pitching duel for Lake Oswego, which entered the season ranked second in the preseason coaches poll. First, senior Finley Smith singled to center to get things going, then senior Vince Williams reached on a bunt, moving Smith to third, and fellow senior Sam Trojan finally brought the run home with a sacrifice fly deep to center.
Still, the Bowmen did well to manage the damage, recording two quick outs to give their bats an immediate chance to respond.
Unfortunately for Sherwood, Wear and the Lakers’ defense were just too solid on Thursday, failing to allow a base-runner across the final three innings of the game.
Wear finished the day with six strikeouts, while sophomore Carsten Lemon stepped onto the mound before the seventh for Lake Oswego, putting the Bowmen away one-two-three to give the Lakers the win.
With the victory, Lake Oswego improved to 4-0 on the season, with previous wins coming against Jesuit, Roseburg and West Salem. Meanwhile, Sherwood dropped to 1-3 after facing a gauntlet of West Linn, Central Catholic and Lake Oswego to start the season.
The Lakers will be in action again next week as they travel to Arizona for the Coach Bob Invitational, during which they’ll play four games against national competition.
Meanwhile, Sherwood will host McMinnville on Monday, April 1.
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