Reedsport catcher David King cathes a throw from the outfield and spins around in an attempt to tag Gold Beach’s Brody Carpenter, but is just a half second too late as Palmer makes it home Friday. World Photo by Susan Chambers.

Gold Beach took advantage of seven Reedsport errors and beat the host Braves 8-5 in a Sunset Conference baseball game on Friday.

Herbie Smith and Ricco Lang combined for six strikeouts with four walks for the Panthers.

Travis Leach hit a solo home run for the Braves and Gunner Kaufmann drove in three runs with a two-run double and a sacrifice fly.

Taylor Palermo allowed eight hits, struck out four batters and didn’t walk anyone for the Braves.

“He pitched well,” said Reedsport coach Todd Harrington. “(We just had) no support behind him.”

Mackenzie Burdett had three hits for the Panthers and scored twice. Mitch McDonald had a double and also scored twice. Timmy Smith also had two hits for the Panthers.

Bobcats edge Bandon

Myrtle Point topped Bandon 3-2 on Friday in a pitching-dominated matchup.

Myrtle Point’s Kyle Davis allowed just four hits and had eight strikeouts. James Ellis had the game-winning, two-run single in the top of the fourth.

Jordan Siemer allowed three hits in six innings with seven strikeouts for the Tigers. Siemer also had the only triple of the game and teammate Max DeVillers hit a double.

Bandon scored both its runs on Siemer’s triple in the third inning.

Challengers crush Coquille

Cascade Christian opened conference play with a 36-0 win over visiting Coquille, then beat the Red Devils 10-2 in a nonleague game.

Jeremy Cheney pitched a one-hitter in the opener and also had three hits, including two doubles, for the Challengers. Brandon Hauser also had three of Cascade Christian’s 30 hits.

In the second game, Wes Litton picked up the victory for Cascade Christian.

SOFTBALL

Pirates split twin bill

Marshfield split a nonleague doubleheader with Mazama on Friday, winning a 2-1 marathon in the first game and losing the second in the seventh inning.

In the opener, Marshfield scored a run in the first inning when Tiffany Wiley singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Taylor Scott, moved to third on a grounder by Jayla Tavernier and scored on a single by Brittney Young.

The Pirates didn’t score again until the 13th inning, when Scott reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to third on a single by Tavernier and scored on a single by Young.

In addition to driving in both runs, Young also pitched all 13 innings, striking out nine batters and giving up 13 hits.

Young also had three of Marshfield’s 10 hits on offense.

In the nightcap Mazama scored four runs in the seventh inning to edge the Pirates 7-6.

“The girls were a little sluggish,” said Marshfield coach Floyd Montiel. “Defensively we did a good job, but we let too many on base.”

Scott went 2-for-2 with two RBI’s and two runs while Young went 2-for-4 with two RBI’s. Wiley went 2-for-3 and scored twice.

Marshfield will play a doubleheader today at Eagle Point.

Sunset Conference

Panthers win

Molly Hockema struck out 14 batters and also had two big hits as Gold Beach beat host Reedsport 7-3 in a Sunset Conference game Friday.

Hockema had a triple, a double and three RBIs for the Panthers. Kourtney Moore and Kelsey Hamilton each had two hits, including a double.

“That’s a good hitting team,” said Reedsport coach Casey Howard. “They hit the ball hard. We played really good defense tonight.”

Hockema allowed just three hits for the Braves.

Tigers top Bobcats

Bandon got 11 hits and overcame one bad inning to beat visiting Myrtle Point 12-9 on Friday.

The Tigers led 8-0 before Myrtle Point used five Bandon errors to score eight runs in the fifth inning.

The Tigers put the game away with four runs in the sixth.

Maya Magallanes had three hits and scored a run for the Tigers, while Megan Haueter had two hits and scored three times. Becky Butler and Brittany Smith each had two hits and two runs, and Ashley O’Grady had a double and scored twice.

Kylee Fischer had a double in Myrtle Point’s big inning.

Challengers sweep

Cascade Christian swept a doubleheader against Coquille on Friday, beating the Devils 14-3 and 14-4.

The Challengers’ Leah Weakley and Amber Sekreta had a combined 14 strikeouts, with Weakley picking up eight strikeouts in the first game, which counted as a league game. Sekreta had six strikeouts in the second game, a nonleague contest. Each pitcher allowed five hits.

Cascade Christian’s Erin Guthrie went 3-for-4 and teammates Brandi Johnson, Bre Luzny and Andi Bondra had two hits each. The Challengers enjoyed 17 walks in the second game.