Cowboy end season with doubleheader sweep

The Crook County High School baseball team took care of business Friday, taking a pair of road games from the Molalla Indians to close out the regular season in second place in the Tri-Valley Conference.

The Cowboys took game one 5-3 then closed out the evening with a 7-5 win. Crook County led wire-to-wire in the first game, scoring a run in the top of the second and four in the third. Molalla scored a pair of runs in the third and one in the seventh.

The Cowboys had 11 hits in the contest to six for Molalla. Gage Martinez and Trenton Tucker both had doubles while Hayden Forman, Austin Vaughan, Ethan Lamphere and Gage Martinez all went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Tucker went 2-for-4. Zach Allen, Tyis Yustat and Tyson Martinez each had singles.

Clayton Dill pitched a complete game for Crook County, walking two, while striking out five.

Game two was a different story. Molalla took an early lead with a pair of runs in the third inning before Crook County took control with a pair of runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, three in the sixth, and one in the seventh. Molalla then scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, before the Cowboys were able to get out of the inning and the game.

Once again Crook County hit the ball well, blasting 10 hits in the game. Yustat, Tucker and Allen both had doubles while Yustat and Forman both had two hits. Gage Martinez, Tyson Martinez and Dill each had a single.

Yustat threw three innnings for the Cowboys giving up four hits and two runs, while walking two and striking out four. Carson Knudtson then threw two innings, allowing one hit, and striking out one, while walking three. Zach Allen then threw one and a third innings, allowing one hit and three runs, only one of which was earned. Allen walked two and struck out one. Forman then closed out the game on the mound, not allowing a hit, while walking one and striking out two in two-thirds of an inning. The four Crook County pitchers combined to limit Molalla to just six hits.

The Cowboys finish the league season tied with The Dalles with identical 13-2 league records. However, the Riverhawks won the season series over the Cowboys, so they won the league championship.

Crook County heads into the post season with a 17-5 overall record, ranked eighth in the OSAA power rankings. Meanwhile, Molalla fell to 5-9 in league and 10-`3 overall.

Game 1

Crook County 5, Molalla 3

at Molalla

Crook County – 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 – 5 11 1

Molalla – 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 – 3 6 3

Game 2

Crook County – 0 0 0 2 1 3 1 – 7 10 1

Molalla – 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 – 5 6 4