First-place Warrenton jumped on top early against second-place Taft and overcame a team-leading two hits and an RBI each from the Fisher cousins to emerge with a 4-2 home victory Tuesday in a Special District 2 showdown between top 10-ranked teams.
“We are really struggling to string some hits together right now,” Taft coach Matt Hilgers said. “Scoring two runs is not going to win a whole lot of games.”
The Warriors scored once in the first, once in the third and twice in the fifth off Taft junior starter Eli DeMello, who was relieved in the sixth by senior Bleiz Kimbrough.
Senior Tyee Fisher doubled and singled and junior Trenton Fisher singled twice as Taft responded with runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Senior Cody Knott, who doubled, and sophomore Darius Smith, scored tuns for the Tigers.
DeMello, Smith and freshman Kaden Hindman had Taft’s other hits.
“We outhit them,” Hilgers said. “The difference is they did a good job of stringing hits together and taking advantage of a walks and a couple mistakes in the field. They were very fundamentally sound.”
Leadoff hitter Austin Little and Jacob Morrow had two hits each for Warrenton, while Little scored twice for the Warriors.
Taft stranded six runners and Warrenton stole four bases as the eighth-ranked Tigers fell to 10-10, 6-4, while the fifth-rated Warriors improved to 12-3, 8-1.
Taft returns to action at 3 p.m. Friday for a league doubleheader at Willamina.
“We are right there,” Hilgers said. “We just have to find a way to get over this hump. We have to find a way to win these close games. We have to want it more than the other team.”
Warrenton 4, Taft 2 TAFT AB R H BI WARRENTON AB R H BI Trenton Fisher 4 0 2 1 Austin Little 3 2 2 1 Eli DeMello 4 0 1 0 Gabe Breitmeyer 3 0 0 0 Cody Knott 3 1 1 0 Jacob Morrow 3 1 2 1 Tyee Fisher 3 0 2 1 Duane Falls 3 0 1 1 Bleiz Kimbrough 3 0 0 0 Alec Herrera 3 0 0 0 Fco Ramos 3 0 0 0 Dalton Knight 2 0 0 0 Darius Smith 2 1 1 0 Devin Jackson 3 0 0 0 Kaden Hindman 1 0 1 0 Kale'o Kapua 1 1 0 0 Ethan Thomas 2 0 0 0 Ethan Cadwell 2 0 0 0 TOTALS 25 2 8 2 TOTALS 23 4 5 3 TAFT 000 011 0 -- 2 WARRENTON 101 020 x -- 4 LOB--TAFT 6, WARRENTON 4. E--Fco Ramos. 2B--Tyee Fisher, Cody Knott, Jacob Morrow, Austin Little. HBP--Kale'o Kapua. SACB--Kaden Hindman (2). SB--Kale'o Kapua, Dalton Knight (2), Austin Little. TAFT IP H R ER BB SO HR Eli DeMello (L) 5.00 5 4 3 0 3 0 Bleiz Kimbrough 1.00 0 0 0 2 1 0 WARRENTON Devin Jackson (W) 4.67 5 1 1 2 1 0 Dalton Knight 2.33 3 1 1 0 3 0 PB--Jacob Morrow. SO--Ethan Thomas, Fco Ramos (2), Trenton Fisher, Ethan Cadwell, Devin Jackson (3). BB--Ethan Thomas, Darius Smith, Kale'o Kapua, Dalton Knight.
