MORO – Entering the top of the seventh inning, Treve Martin and Trey Homer were a combined 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and two walks.
They saved the real fireworks for crunch time when the Sherman Huskies were down to their last out.
Martin tied the game with his first home run of the year, Homer followed with a two-run blast to right centerfield and reliever Maverick Winslow made the lead hold up in a 9-7 triumph to cap a two-game baseball sweep over Culver Tuesday in Moro.
“Trey and I have been struggling to get into balls all day, just hitting chip shots and stuff, but we just trusted it,” Martin said. “I went up to the plate knowing that I was going to get a big hit and it came through. It was the same for Trey. It is the same mindset. If you just buy into it and trust it, then good things will happen and that really showed.”
Before Martin and Homer could get their heroics started, Culver jumped out to a 6-0 lead through three innings of play.
The Huskies inched to within a 6-1 deficit in the fourth frame on an RBI double by Kyle Fields that plated Bradley Moe, and then tacked on four more runs in the fifth on RBIs by Brett Troutman, Moe and another two-run double by Fields to make it a 6-5 margin.
Sherman tied the score in the sixth, as Jacob Justesen hammered a two-out triple to centerfield and scored on a balk with Winslow at the plate.
Culver (8-5-1 overall, 5-3 league) loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and had a runner score on an error, as an attempted pickoff went awry, but Winslow escaped a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout and popout to keep the Husky deficit at one run.
With Sherman ahead by two runs in the bottom of the seventh, Culver got a leadoff double, but then Winslow retired the next three Culver batters on a groundout, a flyout and another groundout to end the game.
“They know what it takes to win games and they know how to get up for the big moments,” said Sherman coach Joe Justesen. “They got themselves in a little bit of bind because they got a little lazy and they got a little complacent and allowed Culver to put up six runs in that one inning. My team put me over the edge as a coach because they weren’t playing anyway close to their potential. I let them have it and I let them know that is not acceptable and they rose to the challenge. They came back and fought, tooth and nail.”
Jacob Justesen went 3 for 4 with a triple and two runs scored, Winslow added two hits, one a double, and scored a run, and both Moe and Martin posted a hit, two runs scored and an RBI apiece.
Fields roped two doubles, received a walk, scored a run and drove in three, and Homer was 1 for 3 with a walk, a run scored and two RBIs.
Winslow tossed 4 1/3 innings of four-hit ball with four strikeouts and a walk to pick up the win. The one run allowed was unearned.
In the opening game, Troutman tossed a complete-game seven-hitter with four strikeouts and the Husky offense racked up eight runs on 15 hits to secure an 8-3 victory.
Sherman led 3-1 in the fourth inning, until Diego Valdez drove in Max Martin with an RBI single.
Two batters after that hit, Valdez later scored on an error, and on the same play, Winslow raced from first to home to extend the leading margin to 6-1.
Troutman and Moe ran the Husky advantage to 8-1 after an RBI each in the sixth inning.
Culver scored two runs in the seventh and had two runners on base with two outs, but Troutman recorded the final out a groundout to shortstop.
Offensively, Troutman had three hits, two doubles, scored twice and drove in two runs, Moe went 3 for 4 with a double and two RBIs, and Max Martin added a single, a double and scored a run.
Valdez was 1 for 3 with a run and an RBI, Treve Martin tallied two hits and an RBI, Winslow singled, walked and scored twice and Jacob Justesen had two hits and two runs scored.
Sherman (12-3, 9-2) is now third in the Blue Mountain Conference, two games behind Dufur and Pilot Rock.
With 10 days off until their next game, coach Justesen wants his team to stay sharp and mentally prepared for the final five league matchups.
“We just got to stay with this momentum,” coach Justesen said. “We have a little layoff, but once we get back to it, we have to keep our heads screwed on and take care of business.”
The Huskies next travel to No. 9 Dufur (15-0, 10-0) for a critical league doubleheader slated for 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 6.
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