KLAMATH FALLS, Ore – The Henley Hornets (28-1) used a brilliant six-inning outing from Mark Carpenter to earn a 4-1 victory over the North Bend Bulldogs (16-9). Carpenter struck out 12 batters and allowed five hits to collect his eighth win of the year.
Henley scored in the first inning as Payton Price scored on a wild pitch. Then in the second inning, the Hornets added to the lead with a Connor Shively single to score Luke Austin. That hit gave Shively seven hits in the last three games and six RBI in that same span.
In the middle innings, the Hornet’s offense was slowed by a stellar outing from North Bend pitcher Aiden Nelson. The Bulldogs senior worked 4.0 innings allowing seven hits and three runs. The Hornets had difficulty squaring up on the baseball until Carpenter doubled to extend Henley’s lead to 4-1 in the sixth inning.
In total, the Henley offense amassed eight hits with three credited to Shively. He was the only Hornet with multiple hits, but Payton Price, Aiden Hayes, Mark Carpenter, Lane Frank, and Luke Austin all added one hit each.
Offensively for the Bulldogs, Luke Wheeling, Peyton Forester, Drakkar Funk, Joshio Stevens, and Josh Sullivan all collected one hit. The lone RBI is credited to Funk, who doubled in the sixth inning.
This marks the end of the season for North Bend who appeared in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018. North Bend will be losing six players to graduation.
The Hornets will return to the semifinals for the first time since 2019. They will meet the #4 seed Marist Catholic Spartans (19-9) in the semis. Marist is the same school that the Henley football team defeated in the state championship game on November 25, 2023. Each team has four athletes who suited up for that title game. The ‘rematch’ will be played Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. at Rosser Field.
As always, you can watch the Hornets for free on mybasin.com. The broadcast is brought to you for free because of the generosity of the Henley Booster Club.
