Cheesemaker baseball starts league play strong, softball struggles

Baseball

The Tillamook High Cheesemakers had a great start to the Cowapa League baseball 10-game schedule, winning 3-1 at home over the Astoria High Fishermen (0-1 league, 4-7 overall) on April 2.

Freshman starting pitcher Wrigley Percy (nine strikeouts, two hits allowed, three walks) helped lead the Mooks to the victory while pitching five and two-third innings and allowing just one earned run to help the Mooks build a 2-1 sixth inning advantage. The Mooks took a 1-0 first inning lead and they got another run in the third for a 2-0 lead. Astoria scored a run in the fourth, making it 2-1.

Tillamook, guided by Coach Matt Strang, then extended its lead in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI triple by senior Eligio Maciel (two hits).

“Wrigley has been kind of our go-to guy all season so far,” said Strang. “He has thrown really well in all of his outings and he had another solid game. “He threw 87 pitches and 60 of those were strikes. Wrigley has been an awesome starting pitcher for us this year. I’ve never seen a freshman who is as composed on the mound as he is. He stays extremely composed and he executes very well on every pitch. We had some great defense by our third baseman Josh Manns, who made quite a few key plays for putouts.”

Sophomore relief pitcher Jakoby Goss pitched the final one and one third innings to help the Mooks hang on and get the key victory. The Mooks had a total of five hits and were led offensively by Goss (RBI), sophomore Griffyn Boomer (1-for-3) and Manns (sacrifice fly RBI).

“We’re really solid defensively, but we’re still struggling to hit and we probably should’ve had more hits against Astoria,” said Strang. “We’re a young team thought with just one senior and one junior (Bryson Josi) and the rest of the guys are freshmen and sophomores, so it’s understandable about our lack of hitting. However, we need to start making the adjustments though and make more contact at the plate.”

The Cheesemakers will seek a third straight win Tuesday versus the Seaside High Seagulls (4-5) at Seaside High School and play their next game Friday at 5 p.m. versus the defending state champion Scappoose High Indians (1-0 league, 7-2 overall). They’ll follow with a 5:30 p.m. nonleague contest against the Parkrose High Broncos (4-4) in Portland.

Softball

The Tillamook High Cheesemakers had a rough start to their OSAA Class 4A Cowapa League softball 10-game schedule after getting outscored 36-12 in their first two contests. The Cheesemakers, guided by Coach Chelsea Miller, lost their April 2 league opener 19-9 on the road to the No. 3-ranked Astoria High Fishermen (1-0 league, 8-2 overall), followed by a 17-3 road loss April 4 to the No. 1-ranked St. Helens High Lions (2-0 league, 12-0 overall).

“The season has been going pretty well and we’re doing well offensively (11 runs per game average) while our team batting average is over .400,” said Miller. “Defense is an area that we’re continuing to build and improve. We’ve just made too many errors and we have to do some work to improve our pitching staff. We’ve kind of been moving people around in different positions to find the right fit and I think we’ll improve. Overall, everyone getting better and doing pretty good. Our lineup is pretty stacked and everyone is getting some hits.”

Senior Dannika Goss led the Mooks offense, batting 2-for-4 with two singles and senior Savanna Crawford added four RBIs. The Mooks had rough start as sophomore starting pitcher Meghan Erickson had four walks, which made it necessary for an early pitching change.

The Mooks trailed just 6-4 in the second inning, but Astoria had an offensive burst over the remainder of the contest to get the lopsided victory. The Mooks were outhit just 8-7 but were hurt by 11 walks.

“Offensively, we were right there with them (Fishermen),” said Miller. “Both of our pitchers (Erickson, Makinley Nielsen) are kind of battling minor injuries, which has probably contributed to their performance in the pitching circle. Our league is very tough and we have very challenging opponents with the top-three ranked teams in the state in the Cowapa League.”

The Cheesemakers (0-2 league, 6-5 overall) hope to snap a four-game losing streak in Tuesday’s home matchup versus the Seaside High Seagulls and play their next game at 5 p.m. Thursday at home versus the No. 2-ranked Scappoose High Indians (0-1 league, 9-4 overall).