No. 5 Canby took a big step toward its first league title in 14 years with two wins over No. 10 La Salle Prep in 5A Northwest Oregon Conference softball games this week.
The Cougars won on the road 3-0 on Tuesday and at home 4-3 on Wednesday to extend their winning streak to 11. Canby (16-6, 11-1) holds a two-game lead over four teams that are 9-3 in conference play: La Salle Prep, co-No. 6 Hood River Valley, co-No. 8 Wilsonville and Hillsboro.
The Cougars play Milwaukie (3-9) twice before finishing the regular season with games against Wilsonville on May 22 and May 23. With two wins, they would clinch at least a share of their first league title since taking the 6A Three Rivers League in 2011.
“They're super excited about it,” Canby coach Emily Conklin said of her players. “They're like, 'We're winning it.' They've made up their minds that we're going to do it. I have no doubt that they can do it.”
In Tuesday's 3-0 win at La Salle Prep, junior Allison Hayzlett pitched a five-hit shutout with 16 strikeouts and two walks and sophomore Taylor Saucedo had a home run and two RBIs.
On Wednesday at Canby, the Cougars rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3. They scored twice in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI triple by junior Abi Troutman and a sacrifice fly by Saucedo. They got the go-ahead run in the sixth on an RBI double by senior Madison Bigej. Hayzlett tossed a five-hitter with eight strikeouts.
“Having that two-game lead is awesome,” Conklin said. “It puts us where we want to be. Our league is really tough. There are a lot of really good teams.”
Canby hasn't lost since falling to Hillsboro 5-3 at home April 15.
“I think they're realizing how good they really are,” Conklin said. “I see the confidence. But to me, they're still very humble. Our big thing is not taking anything for granted. We don't come into anything expecting to win. We expect to work hard for it.”
The Cougars brought back all but one starter from last season, when they went 13-12 and lost in the first round of the 5A playoffs. That includes three NWOC first-team selections in Hayzlett (pitcher), Troutman (shortstop) and Saucedo (utility).
Hayzlett, who transferred from Oregon City to Canby as a sophomore, has been outstanding in her second season as the team's ace. In 105 innings, she has allowed 75 hits, struck out 160, walked 30 and has an ERA of 2.00.
“Her mental game is nothing like I've ever seen in a pitcher before,” Conklin said of Hayzlett, who fanned a season-high 18 batters in beating Hood River Valley on May 9. “Nothing gets to her at all.”
Troutman, a third-year starter, is batting ,418 with six doubles, four triples, two homers and a team-high 25 RBIs. Bigej, a fourth-year starter at second base, is hitting .386.
Freshman catcher Katelyn Vissers (.422, 19 RBIs), senior third baseman Natalie Kern (.383, 15 RBIs) and Saucedo (.408, 17 RBIs) also are consistently producing at the plate.
Canby is averaging 9.2 runs per game, up from 5.0 last season. Conklin praised her players for their more deliberate approach to hitting this year.
“We do extra hitting on game days, and I think that's super helpful,” she said. “They're more selective in their hitting. Their swings look really good this year.”
Notes:
No. 7 McMinnville scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning Monday for a 5-4 win over Sherwood, which had won nine in a row and moved to No. 1 in this week's OSAAtoday 6A coaches poll. Kaylee Dinger homered and Ariel Glynn plated a run with a push bunt as the Grizzlies rallied against Sherwood pitcher Presley Sarono-Ramos. Mackenzie Roberts pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings in relief to earn the win for McMinnville (17-7, 7-4), which trails Sherwood (21-3, 9-2), co-No. 8 Forest Grove (17-6, 8-2) and co-No. 8 Glencoe (17-7, 7-3) in the 6A Pacific Conference. …
Gresham (18-6, 10-2) took the inside track in the 6A Mt. Hood Conference this week by belting 10 home runs in wins over Central Catholic (11-9, 9-3) and Nelson (13-11, 9-3), teams that are tied for second place with Barlow (15-8, 9-3). Maddy Sagapolutele hit two of the team's three home runs as the Gophers routed host Central Catholic 14-6 on Monday. Despina Seufalemua and Ayden Gardenhire each went deep twice as Gresham hit seven home runs to power past visiting Nelson 17-8 on Wednesday. Gresham has 46 home runs this season, No. 4 on the state's all-time list. Sagapolutele's 12 homers this season hikes her career total to 41, No. 5 all-time. …
No. 5 West Salem (19-5, 8-0) clinched the 6A Central Valley Conference title this week by thumping second-place McNary 13-3 in six innings Tuesday and South Salem 11-1 in six innings Wednesday. Against visiting McNary (17-6, 5-3), Courtney Gillis had two homers and eight RBIs, Addison Lowery homered and Kali Parks and Viviana Nunez each had three hits. Braeli Martin tossed a five-hitter with five strikeouts. …
It's been a big week for Gladstone sophomore pitcher Ashlynne Franssen, who led the way as the Gladiators (15-8, 13-1) dropped The Dalles/Dufur 5-1 on Monday and Molalla 19-2 in four innings Wednesday to clinch the 4A Tri-Valley Conference title. Franssen threw a four-hitter with 14 strikeouts and went 2 for 2 with two doubles and two RBIs in the home win over second-place The Dalles (11-11, 10-4). She fanned 11 in four innings and went 3 for 4 with a triple and three RBIs against Molalla (7-15, 2-12). For the season, Franssen has struck out 318 in 141 innings. …
Cascade (23-1, 13-1) secured the outright title in the 4A Oregon West Conference and avenged its only loss of the season by defeating rival Stayton 1-0 at home Wednesday. Maddy Tingle's single drove in Kaitlyn Webb with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning for the Cougars, who got payback for a 14-4 loss at Stayton (15-7, 11-3) on May 1. The Eagles had nine hits and drew five walks off Cascade pitchers Grace Wright, Taylor Bays and Jaelyn Lowry, but stranded 13 runners. Malia Scanlan had two of Cascade's six hits. …
No. 3 Weston-McEwen/Griswold outlasted No. 2 Heppner/Ione 11-8 in eight innings in a 2A/1A Special District 7 showdown Tuesday at Heppner. Bre Ward had a double, two homers and six RBIs for the TigerScots. Weston-McEwen tied it 8-8 in the top of the seventh on a homer by Hope Berry and pushed across three runs in the eighth, the first run scoring on an error. Weston-McEwen (19-3, 9-1) visits No. 4 Grant Union/Prairie City (15-6, 9-1) for a doubleheader Friday as the first-place teams finish the district schedule. Heppner (16-4, 7-3) is two games behind the leaders.
jerryu@osaa.org
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