It’s hard to pitch around your own defense.

Tyler Harshfield, a hard-throwing right-hander for the Wallowa High School pitching staff, had little trouble April 5 with Union High batters. In the fourth inning, the Bobcats managed their first hit off him. But they had a 6-0 lead because the Cougars botched too many simple plays. By day’s end, Wallowa lost a 10-2 decision – its fourth setback over the weekend.

“Tyler Harshfield threw a good game, giving up only three earned runs,” coach Warren Wilson said. “The story was the same: the defense let him down.” Wallowa’s overall record fell to 0-6 overall and 0-2 in the district.

The day before, in a doubleheader against the Condon-Wheeler-Arlington-Spray-Mitchell cooperative (the Knights), Wallowa fielders combined to commit 13 errors. In the first game, the hitters kept building leads later erased by miscues. They opened with a 3-0 advantage, and then 7-4, as freshman Cody Green batted in a pair of runs and junior Price Both made two hits. Going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cougars were up 8-6 … but the Knights scored six times to steal the win.

Pitching in relief, Green absorbed much of the big sixth-inning trouble. He came back later to pitch in the second game. Another freshman, Tyler Chrisman, also worked from the mound. Senior Dalton Weaver tried to help, collecting a couple of hits including a double, but Wallowa lost 11-4.

Facing a league rival at Union, Wallowa put its top two pitchers to work. Already well seasoned, the Bobcats had played twice as many games. Wallowa sophomore G.T. McKenzie dueled Union’s Cody Billman. McKenzie threw well, but the Bobcats beat him for four runs without a hit in the third inning. The Cougars’ Andrew Wilson homered in the sixth inning to trim the deficit, but they managed little else in a 6-2 loss.

“McKenzie should have won,” coach Wilson said. “He gave up no earned runs.”

The Cougars returned home April 8 to host Baker High School. It was scheduled too late to be included in this edition of the Chieftain. Next, Elgin High comes to Wallowa on April 12.