TALENT, Ore – The Henley Hornets (10-1; 2-0) collected a pair of wins over Phoenix (4-7; 0-2) to open Skyline Conference play on Saturday.
GAME 1: HENLEY 7, PHOENIX 0
Henley wasted no time getting the game started on Saturday. The Hornets jumped all over Pirates starter Karver Wolowicz for three runs in the first inning. Mark Carpenter looped a base hit to right field to knock in the first run of the ballgame. Henley kept the pedal down in the second inning when Aiden Hayes blasted an RBI double to make the score 4-0. Then, Mark Carpenter came up again for the team when he hit a bases clearing two-RBI triple. Owen Harper reached on an error to score Carpenter from third, and that would be the last run scored in the game.
The game reached a stalemate after the second inning when both pitching staffs began to settle in. Pirates Sophomore Chris Phillips relived Wolowicz in the fourth, and only allowed four base hits through the final four innings of work. Henley’s starter Beau Pyle went the distance on a complete game shutout. Pyle only allowed three hits and one walk to go with 11 strikeouts in his second win of the season.
Henley held the 7-0 lead to earn their ninth victory of the season and the first in Skyline Conference play.
GAME 2: HENLEY 10, PHOENIX 0
The Hornets got another stellar pitching performance in the nightcap from Mark Carpenter who tossed a complete game shutout. Carpenter only allowed one hit and struck out 13 batters against a Phoenix lineup that was guessing most of the way. Pirates pitchers on the other hand, had a difficult time battling through a Henley order that piled on 12 hits and scored 10 runs.
It took Henley 3 innings to get on the board, and they did so with a Connor Shively RBI single that scored Luke Austin. Then, just as he did in the first game, Mark Carpenter found the right-center field gap for an RBI Triple. Owen Harper and Max Price added two more singles to knock in two more runs and Henley was up 4-0. Henley scored two more in the fifth. One on a wild pitch, and another on a Lane Frank RBI single. In the sixth, Ian Meyer collected his first varsity base-hit and RBI when he knocked in Peyton Price. The Hornets continued to score and would close out a 10-0 victory.
This win marked Henley’s 10th victory of the season. The Hornets are the first 4A team to reach double-digit wins, and the second team to do so across all classifications (6A Sprague is 12-0).
NOTABLES
Owen Harper was 3-28 at the plate through the non-league slate, but hit 3-5 with 2 RBI across both games on Saturday.
Mark Carpenter led the Hornets with 7 total bases in two games. He tripled twice and knocked in 3 RBI.
Beau Pyle and Mark Carpenter each pitched complete game shutouts. Their lines combined: 14.0 IP, 4H, 2 BB, 24 SO
The Hornets will meet Klamath Union/Crosspoint (1-9; 0-2) on Tuesday and Thursday at home.
