Crook County overcame 12 errors by taking advantage of nine by Taft to erase a five-run deficit and defeat the Tigers 18-9 Thursday on the opening day of the Madras Spring Break Baseball Tournament.

“You are not going to win very many games when you have as many errors and walks as we did today,” Taft Coach Matt Hilgers said. “We have to get back to the basics in all aspects of baseball.”

The Class 4A Cowboys (2-3. 0-0 4A Tri-Valley) snapped a three-game losing streak by handing the Class 3A Tigers (6-2, 1-0 4A West Valley) their second straight loss after six wins to open the season.

Crook County scored all of its runs in the final five innings off four Taft pitchers, who walked nine batters.

Sophomore Brody Connell drove in six runs and senior leadoff hitter Josh Norris collected four of Crook County’s 11 hits off Taft senior starter Jack Stempel and three relief pitchers.

Junior infielder Cody Knott and sophomore catcher Eli DeMello led Taft with three hits each, while senior infielder Josh Salsbery added two.

Salsbery scored three runs and Stempel two for the Tigers, while senior Caleb King and DeMello drove in two runs each.

Taft plays Tillamook at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the three-day tournament. The Cheesemakers (2-2, 0-0 4A Cowapa) lost 10-0 in six innings to Madras (4-1, 0-0 4A Tri-Valley) in Thursday’s opener.

NOTES: The No. 1 –ranked Taft softball team will open action Friday with a tripleheader in the Napa Spring Break Tournament in Petaluma, Calif. The Lady Tigers (6-0, 0-0 Class 3A West Valley) will open against host Petaluma at 9:30 a.m., then meet Rancho Cotate (Calif.) at 11 a.m. and Douglas (Nev.) at 5 p.m.

Crook County 18, Taft 9

CROOK COUNTY    AB  R  H BI 

Josh Norris              6  2  4  2

Heath Pickhardt       3  3  1  1

Carson Smith          5  2  0  1

Brody Connell         5  2  3  6

Combee                 4  0  0  0

Garett Bernard       0  1  0  0

Devin Wilson          5  2  2  2

Hunter Bishop        3  2  0  0

Payton Faust          3  1  0  0

Diego Smith           3  3  1  0

TOTALS             37 18 11 12 

TAFT                   AB  R  H BI

Josh Salsbery         5  3  2  1

Eli DeMello             5  1  3  2

Caleb King             4  0  1  2

Jack Stempel         2  2  0  0

Cody Knott            4  0  3  1

Kam Kessler          4  1  0  1

Tyee Fisher           4  1  0  0

Bleiz Kimbrough    1  0  0  1

Caleb Jones          1  0  0  0

Trenton Fisher      3  1  0  0

TOTALS             33  9  9  8

CROOK COUNTY            004 361 4 — 18

TAFT                              050 003 1 — 9 

LOB–CROOK COUNTY 10, TAFT 10. ERR– Combee, Brody Connell (4), Carson Smith (3), Payton Faust, Diego Smith (2), Kyle Knudtson, Josh Salsbery (3), Tyee Fisher, Kam Kessler, Eli DeMello, Cody Knott (2), Caleb Jones. 2B–Brody Connell, Josh Norris, Devin Wilson, Eli DeMello, Cody Knott. HBP–Combee, Hunter Bishop, Payton Faust. SACF–Caleb King. SACB–Trenton Fisher. SB–Hunter Bishop,Josh Norris, Tyee Fisher.

CROOK COUNTY              IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR

Kyle Knudtson (W)          5.33    7    8    3    5    5    0

Augustus Williams          1.67    2    1    1    0    2    0

 TAFT                 

Jack Stempel (L)             4.00    7    7    3    2    3    0

Bleiz Kimbrough              0.33    1    6    3    3    0    0

Tyee Fisher                     1.67    2    4    3    2    1    0

Josh Salsbery                 1.00    1    1    1    2    2    0

WP–Tyee Fisher, Jack Stempel. BB–Brody Connell, arson Smith,Hunter Bishop, Payton Faust, Diego Smith (2), Heath Pickhardt (3), Bleiz Kimbrough, Jack Stempel (3), Caleb Jones.

Taft roster and schedule

Crook County roster and schedule

Class 3A West Valley League standings

Class 3A OSAA rankings