Visiting Warrenton jumped on top 2-0 in the top of the first inning of both games Friday and never trailed while handing Taft High its first-ever losses in new Special District 2 league play.
“We struggled today against a team that was fundamentally sound,” Taft coach Matt Hilgers said. “We were flat the first game and couldn’t get out of that funk. We let what happened in Game 1 carry over into Game 2.”
The Warriors, making their SD2 debut, collected 10 hits off junior starter Eli DeMello and junior reliever Trenton Fisher to hand the Tigers a 7-5 defeat in the opener before making a third-inning run in the second game stand up for a 3-2 victory over senior starter Bleiz Kimbrough.
Taft fell to 5-8, 1-2, while Warrenton improved to 6-2, 2-0 with the doubleheader sweep at the Pit.
“We made some mistakes in the field in the first game that came back to bite us in the end,” Hilgers said. “We had a really bad approach at the plate and we continued to make the same mistakes at the plate throughout the 14 innings.”
DeMello, senior Cody Knott and sophomore Fco Ramos led the Tigers with two hits each in the opener, with DeMello driving in two runs and sophomore Darius Smith scoring twice.
DeMello tripled, while Ramos and Smith doubled for Taft, which committed three errors and left 10 runners stranded despite scoring four of its five runs in the final three frames after Warrenton had built a 7-1 lead.
Fisher struck out six in five innings of relief for the Tigers in a rare pitching performance demanded by a schedule calling for several Friday doubleheaders this season.
DeMello maintained his hot hitting in the second game by going 3-for-3 to lead the Tigers at the plate.
Ramos and junior Lucas Hindman scored once each, and Smith and sophomore Ethan Thomas drove in runs for the Tigers.
Kimbrough went the distance and struck out seven.
Taft returns to the diamond at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Willamina.
“We need to work on being consistent,” Hilgers said. “Right now, we are showing signs of being a good ball club, but we are struggling with maintaining that. We play Tuesday at Willamina and we need to come out with a better mindset.”
GAME 1 Warrenton 7, Taft 5 WARRENTON AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI Austin Little 3 1 0 0 Trenton Fisher 2 1 1 0 Gabe Breitmeyer 5 2 2 0 Eli DeMello 4 1 2 2 Jacob Morrow 3 3 2 2 Cody Knott 3 0 2 1 Duane Falls 4 1 3 1 Tyee Fisher 3 0 0 1 Devin Jackson 4 0 1 2 Bleiz Kimbrough 3 0 0 0 Kale'o Kapua 2 0 1 1 Kaden Hindman 3 0 0 0 Alec Herrera 3 0 0 0 Darius Smith 3 2 1 0 Josh Earls 4 0 0 0 Fco Ramos 3 1 2 1 Dalton Knight 3 0 1 0 Ethan Thomas 3 0 0 0 TOTALS 31 7 10 6 TOTALS 27 5 8 5 WARRENTON 203 200 0 -- 7 TAFT 100 012 1 -- 5 LOB--Warrenton 10, Taft 10. E--Fco Ramos, Jordan Hall, Cody Knott. 2B--Jacob Morrow, Devin Jackson, Fco Ramos, Darius Smith. 3B--Eli DeMello. HBP--Alec Herrera, Kale'o Kapua (2), Austin Little, Bleiz Kimbrough, Fco Ramos, Trenton Fisher, Darius Smith. SACF--Tyee Fisher. SACB--Ethan Thomas. SB--Gabe Breitmeyer, Cody Knott. WARRENTON IP H R ER BB SO HR Devin Jackson (W) 5.00 5 2 2 3 5 0 Gabe Breitmeyer 2.00 3 3 3 0 3 0 TAFT Eli DeMello (L) 2.00 6 5 2 0 2 0 Trenton Fisher 5.00 4 2 2 3 6 0 PB--Jacob Morrow. WP--Trenton Fisher (2). SO--Alec Herrera (2), Gabe Breitmeyer, Josh Earls (2), Kale'o Kapua, Dalton Knight, Devin Jackson, Tyee Fisher (3), Ethan Thomas (2), Bleize Kimbrogh, Trenton Fisher, Darius Smith. BB--Jacob Morrow, Dalton Knight, Austin Little, Kaden Hindman, Trenton Fisher, Cody Knott.GAME 2 Warrenton 3, Taft 2 WARRENTON AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI Austin Little 4 1 1 0 Trenton Fisher 4 0 0 0 Gabe Breitmeyer 4 0 1 0 Eli DeMello 3 0 3 0 Jacob Morrow 2 2 2 1 Tyee Fisher 3 0 0 0 Duane Falls 3 0 2 2 Cody Knott 2 0 0 0 Devin Jackson 3 0 0 0 Bleiz Kimbrough 2 0 0 0 Kale'o Kapua 3 0 0 0 Fco Ramos 2 1 1 0 Josh Earls 3 0 0 0 Darius Smith 2 0 1 1 Alec Herrera 2 0 0 0 Kaden Hindman 3 0 0 0 Dalton Knight 2 0 1 0 Trenton Hall 2 0 0 0 Ethan Thomas 1 0 1 1 *Lucas Hindman 0 1 0 0 TOTALS 26 3 7 3 TOTALS 24 2 6 2 WARRENTON 201 000 0 -- 3 TAFT 010 000 1 -- 2 LOB--Warrenton 5, Taft 5. E--Duane Falls. 2B--Jacob Morrow. SACB--Dalton Knight, Fco Ramos. SB--Lucas Hindman, Eli DeMello, Cody Knott (2). WARRENTON IP H R ER BB SO HR Dalton Knight (W) 7.00 6 2 2 3 8 0 TAFT Bleiz Kimbrough (L) 7.00 7 3 3 2 7 0 PB--Jacob Morrow. WP--Bleiz Kimbrough. SO--Gabe Breitmeyer, Josh Earls (2), Kale'o Kapua, Dalton Knight, Duane Falls, Devin Jackson, Tyee Fisher (2), Bleiz Kimbrough, FCO Ramos, Trenton Hall (2), Kaden Hindman, Trenton Fisher. BB--Alec Herrera, Jacob Morrow, Bleiz Kimbrough, Darius Smith, Cody Knott.
