No team wants to start league play by getting swept in a three-game series. But that is the situation the Bend High baseball team found itself in during its first Intermountain Conference series against Caldera.

Staring down the barrel of three losses to open IMC play, and a six-game losing streak, Seth Willy rose to the occasion on the mound and at the plate, helping the Lava Bears get past the Wolfpack 3-0 Friday evening.

Facing a team that had tagged the Lava Bears for 17 runs and 22 combined hits in the first two games of the series, the senior right-hander silenced the Wolfpack bats to pitch a complete-game shutout while only allowing three hits.

“You are looking for that senior to come in and shut the door,” said Bend coach Quinn Clair. “He wants the baseball in a big game.”

Willy did not overpower the Wolfpack batters (finishing with just three strikeouts), but he kept the Wolfpack batters off balance at the plate, allowing only five baserunners in seven innings.

After committing nine errors in the first two games of the series, the Lava Bears turned in a clean outing in the field on Friday.

“Today was a day where I was going to throw it over the plate, trust the defense and see what happens,” Willy said.

“Props to the defense, they made some incredible plays and kept us in it. We wouldn’t have won this game without them.”

Willy and Caldera senior Garet Dornhecker were locked in a pitcher’s duel. Like Willy, Dornhecker was dealing. The senior right-hander was perfect through three innings, sitting down the first nine batters he faced.

Sophomore catcher Kaden Cooper was the first Lava Bear to reach base with a bunt single.

Two batters later, Willy did himself a favor with an RBI double, which proved to be the game-winner, to break a scoreless tie in the fourth inning.

A 1-0 lead was all that was needed for Willy on the bump.

“I can’t describe what it is like going back on the mound in a close game after scoring a run,” Willy said.

“It made it so much easier. It put my mind at ease, and I was able to throw the pitches that I wanted to.”

The Lava Bears added two more runs in the sixth inning off RBI singles from junior Will Goodman and an error off the bat of junior Cash Hattenhauer, to provide some insurance heading into the final inning.

Dornhecker also threw a complete game for the Wolfpack, allowing just two earned runs on four hits while striking out three. Junior outfielder Jack Bents had two of Caldera’s three hits, one of them being a double.

With the win, the Lava Bears snapped a five-game losing streak. Perhaps, more importantly, Bend High avoided the sweep with a bounce-back win.

“This league is tough,” Clair said. “Top to bottom, all six teams are still in it to win the league title. Every series is going to be a battle.”

The Lava Bears might have won the battle Friday evening, but it was the Wolfpack that won the three-game war by taking two of three games in the opening series of IMC play. With a 9-5 win over Bend on Tuesday, followed by a 9-5 on Wednesday, Caldera knocked off multiple program milestones.

Last spring, the town’s newest high school began playing its first varsity season and did not win a single series. Now it has.

The Wolfpack only won one of its 15 IMC games last season. Three games in this year, they’ve doubled their conference wins from a season ago. And to top it off, the Wolfpack has matched last year’s win total and still have 12 games to play.

“From last year to this year, the kids are a little more mature,” said Caldera coach Dave Williams. “They can handle adversity a little better, they can handle failure a little better, and it will get better as we go. The trajectory of a lot of our kids is going in the right direction.”

IMC play continues for both teams next week. The Lava Bears begin a three-game series on the road against Redmond starting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Wolfpack host Ridgeview also at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.