After reaching the Class 5A state quarterfinals a year ago, Crater’s softball team sure wouldn’t mind being in contention for at least that same kind of season again here in 2024.

Blending a roster that seems to be either seniors or sophomores, with only a hint of the other two classes represented, the Comets know that every time out on the diamond is another chance to shore things up for another potential late run in the state playoffs.

On Saturday, Crater seized that opportunity in a big way, limiting Mountain View to one run overall while belting out seven extra-base hits overall to score a doubleheader sweep, 5-1 and 8-0.

Particularly nice to see was a defensive effort that resulted in only one error in 14 innings.

“They played well today defensively,” said Crater head coach Chris Arnold. “I thought we were solid and they did some things right out there defensively as a team that they wanted to do.”

“I also thought we got some pretty quality at-bats up and down the lineup,” he added. “We had some younger girls step up and really do a nice job at the plate today so, all-in-all, I think we’re pretty pleased with our first outing.”

Alexis Perez faced 23 batters and allowed three hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts in the opener for Crater (2-0), while Suzy Foster and Ally Nottingham combined on a five-hit shutout in Game 2.

Perez, Foster and Nottingham each had two hits in the opener as well, with the Comets getting a needed boost from a two-run double by Amanda Hammer in the fourth inning and Payton Schwab adding a two-run single in the seventh.

The sophomore Hammer, who excelled at Eagle Point last season, kept it up in Game 2 by belting a solo home run in the fourth inning and a two-run shot in the sixth to finish with three RBIs.

“Holy smokes, she really tore it up today,” said Arnold of the catcher. “She did a nice job.”

A year ago, Hammer burst onto the scene with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs to go with a .408 batting average for the Eagles. She also had 11 doubles among her 31 hits.

Senior Grace Aldrich also had a solo home run in the seventh to join Hammer and Alayna Ballard in collecting two hits apiece in the nightcap.

Overall, the Comets boast seven seniors and six sophomores as part of their 17-deep roster.

“The experience part is really good to have,” said Arnold. “We have seven seniors when everybody’s here and healthy and that experience is really working well with the younger girls, giving them some guidelines and helping them get up to speed here. That’s been really helpful.”

FIRST GAME

Crater 000 200 3 — 5 10 1

Mountain View 000 000 1 — 1 3 0

Perez and Hammer; A. Clark and H. Clark. W — Perez (1-0). L — A. Clark. 2B — C: Perez, Hammer.

SECOND GAME

Crater 012 103 1 — 8 9 0

Mountain View 000 000 0 — 0 5 4

Foster, Nottingham (5) and Hammer; A. Clark and H. Clark. W — Foster (1-0). L — A. Clark. 2B — C: Schwab, Foster. HR — C: Aldrich, Hammer 2.

PHOENIX 20-16, SUTHERLIN 12-9: At Sutherlin, Phoenix senior Jayden Vos went 4-for-5 with five runs and two RBIs in the 20-12 opener, while sophomore Rylie Johnson had a triple and three RBis in the Game 1 and went 2-for-3 with three runs in the nightcap.

Kendall Heywood reached base five times with two runs and two RBIs in the opener for Phoenix, while Violet Harper went 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs in the 16-9 Game 2 win.

Keelie Woodside added two RBIs and two runs in Game 1, and Carsyn Gallegos went 2-4 with two RBIs in Game 2.

Sophomore Destiny Christlieb struck out 11 in 4 ⅔ innings with five hits allowed to win the opener.

Baseball

NORTH MEDFORD 7-13, BEND 5-4: At Bend, North Medford senior Colton Morgan went 2-for-2 with three RBIs in the opener and allowed five hits and one earned run in six innings on the mound in Game 2 to help lead the Black Tornado to a sweep.

North Medford (3-0) collected an astounding 17 stolen bases in the twin bill, with Easton Curtis swiping five bases while Morgan, Daffron and Frankie Rutigliano each had three.

Daffron also went the distance in the opener, allowing four earned runs with five strikeouts and two walks.

Curtis combined for four hits, four runs and two RBIs as North Medford racked up 21 hits overall against Bend (1-2).

In the nightcap, Kellen Willer went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, Ben Morgan was 2-for-5 with three RBIs and Daffron scored three times with two hits.

FIRST GAME

North Medford 103 201 0 — 7 9 3

Bend 003 020 0 — 5 8 5

Daffron and Robbins; Goodman, Silva (4) and K. Cooper. W — Daffron (1-0). L — Goodman. 2B — NM: B. Morgan; B: Hattenhauer.

SECOND GAME

North Medford 422 032 0 — 13 12 3

Bend 101 200 0 — 4 6 3

C. Morgan, Willer (7) and Robbins; Willy, Cuevas (4), Morton (6), Knapp (7) and K. Cooper. W — C. Morgan (1-0). L — Willy. 2B — NM: B. Morgan, Robbins, Willer; B: Willy 2, C. Cooper. 3B — NM: Curtis, B. Morgan, Rutigliano.

PHOENIX 7-3, SUTHERLIN 2-0: At Sutherlin, Jackson Shilts finished 2-for-5 with a triple, two RBIs and two stolen bases in the opener and Kaden Sousa finished with nine strikeouts in two relief appearances to secure the nonleague sweep.

Karver Wolowicz struck out 12 with two hits and one earned run allowed in five innings to earn the Game 1 win for Phoenix (2-2).

Luke Jennings went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Lucca Petrone added a double in the opener.

Chris Phillips and Sousa combined on a Game 2 shutout, with Phillips allowing all five hits by the Bulldogs (0-3).

Sousa had an RBI double and Wolowicz supplied an RBI single in the first inning, while Shilts later scored on a sacrifice fly by Jennings.

FIRST GAME

Phoenix 022 120 0 — 7 10 1

Sutherlin 000 010 1 — 2 4 2

Wolowicz, Sousa (6) and S. Shilts; Westrom, Shaver (6) and Terry. W — Wolowicz. L — Westrom. 2B — P: Petrone. 3B — P: J. Shilts.

SECOND GAME

Phoenix 200 001 0 — 3 9 0

Sutherlin 000 000 0 — 0 5 1

Phillips, Sousa (5) and S. Shilts; Flora, Kint (3), Radmer (4) and Terry. W — Phillips. L — Flora. 2B — P: Sousa; S: Flora, Boehn.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN SWEEPS: At Junction City, Cascade Christian capitalized in the seventh inning on a couple defensive letdowns by Junction City and some timely hitting to rally for a 6-5 win and complete a road sweep after earlier topping Elmira, 4-1.

Noah Letendre reached on a two-base error to lead off the top of the seventh and scored the tying run for the Challengers (3-0) after a single by CJ Bonner and another error by the Tigers (2-1). Bonner, who had advanced to third on the play, scored the go-ahead run on a one-out single by Jack Knips.

Against Elmira, Bonner struck out 10 in four hitless and scoreless innings of relief to earn the win for Cascade.

Cascade Christian 001 120 0 — 4 5 2

Elmira 010 000 0 — 1 3 3

Letendre, Bonner (4) and Sickler; Davies and Leturno. W — Bonner. L — Davies. 2B — CC: Knips.

Cascade Christian 000 004 2 — 6 8 2

Junction City 101 003 0 — 5 5 4

Stofflet, Knips (4), Sickler (7) and Sickler, Bonner (7); Shafer, Berry (6) and Waldrop. W — Knips. L — Berry. 2B — JC: Clift.

Track & Field

CRUSADER RELAYS: St. Mary’s thrower Joel Kiene had a strong performance with three personal records to lead the Crusader boys to a first-place finish with 73 points in the 25th annual event at St. Mary’s High.

The freshman threw 121 feet, 11 inches to win the discus and followed it up with a win in the javelin (141-0). Kiene also was second in the shot put (39-4).

T.J. Flowers also swept the long jump and triple jump for the St. Mary’s boys.

Bella Fortino won the one-mile run for the St. Mary’s girls in 6:06.48 to help the Crusaders place third with 46 points behind South Umpqua (59 points) and North Valley (49 points).

BOYS

TEAM SCORES: St. Mary’s 73, North Valley 59, South Umpqua 37, Bonanza 20.

1-MILE — 1, Dawson Ghavam, SM, 5:45.08; 4×100 RELAY — 1, North Valley (Cody Russell, Aiden Coons, Bryson Teal, Ronan Burbank), 46.10; 4×100 THROWERS RELAY — 1, North Valley (Corbin Rappleyea, Ronald Goodnough, Brody Morgan, James Emond), 58.23; 4×200 RELAY — 1, St. Mary’s (Roan Branham, Kaeden Shrader, Aiden Miller, Indiana Olson), 1:41.26; 4×400 RELAY — 1, St. Mary’s (Aiden DeBoer, T.J. Flowers, Andrew Lockwood, Indiana Olson), 3:36.82; SMR RELAY — 1, North Valley (Bryson Teal, Aiden Coons, Ronan Burbank, Cody Russell), 1:44.87; DMR RELAY — 1, North Valley (Samuel Bailey, Thorn O’Neill, Joshua Kightlinger, James Edmond), 12:36.12.

SHOT PUT — 1, Fystin Qualls, Bon, 40-3.5; DISCUS — 1, Joel Kiene, SM, 121-11; JAVELIN — 1, Joel Kiene, SM, 141-0; HIGH JUMP — 1, Aiden DeBoer, SM, 5-10; POLE VAULT — 1, Caleb Gaskin, NV, 9-0; LONG JUMP — 1, T.J. Flowers, SM, 20-1.5; TRIPLE JUMP — 1, T.J. Flowers, SM, 40-8.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES: South Umpqua 52, North Valley 49, St. Mary’s 46, Bonanza 39.

1-MILE — 1, Bella Fortino, SM, 6:06.48; 4×100 RELAY — 1, Bonanza (Grace Kness, Merce Redon Lop, Ellie Huffman, Maggie Ackley), 56.58; 4×100 THROWERS RELAY — 1, Bonanza (Mary Burgd, Isabella Dominguez, Haley Wierleske, Emma Nunn), 1:05.06; 4×200 RELAY — 1, South Umpqua (Sariya Rutan, Emalie Mayorga, Cadence Lanier, Hannah McKelvey), 2:04.67; 4×400 RELAY — 1, St. Mary’s (Taryn Vasey, Meno Kubo, Bella Fortino, Marren Tignini), 4:36.06; SMR RELAY — 1, North Valley (Laylanee Allen, Faith Hoyt, Lainie Wheeler, Isabella Champion), 2:15.17; DMR RELAY — 1, St. Mary’s (Annalise Denard, Marren Tignini, Bella Fortino, Helen Lin), 16:03.70.

SHOT PUT — 1, Ella Yeamans, SM, 25-8; DISCUS — 1, Alyssa Wade, SU, 74-9; JAVELIN — 1, Baelie Converse-Hooke, Bon, 106-11; HIGH JUMP — 1, Lilly Rohm, SU, 5-0; POLE VAULT — 1, Ellie Huffman, Bon, 9-0; LONG JUMP — 1, Ada Bernard, SM, 14-3; TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Jordan Fagert, NV, 31-6.25.