LA PINE — The thinking between the La Pine and Sisters baseball coaches is that the Class 3A’s Mountain Valley Conference is a three-horse race to the top of the league standings this spring.

The Outlaws, the Hawks and the Billies of Pleasant Hill have all proven to be the class of the conference in the early stages of league play.

“We’ve talked all year that it is going to come down to us, La Pine and Pleasant Hill,” said Sisters coach Matt Hilgers.

Said La Pine coach Ryan Dillon: “I’ve told our players all year long that it is going to be us, Sisters and P-Hill competing for league at the end. Which is exactly where we want to be.”

Which of the three will come away with a league title?

That will be decided on the field over the next few weeks.

Pleasant Hill has already won two of three games in its series against Sisters, and La Pine will play its series against Pleasant Hill next week.

Tuesday afternoon, the Outlaws (9-5 overall, 5-2 MVC) picked up a win over La Pine that will help keep them in the league title chase. They scored four runs in the sixth inning to break a 2-2 tie to win the three-game series opener 6-4 over the Hawks (10-5, 9-1).

In last year’s three-game series between Sisters and La Pine — who ended 2023 tied atop the MVC standings — each game ended with a run differential no greater than two runs. With Sisters’ two-run win on Tuesday, that streak continued.

“Somehow it always seems to be close with La Pine,” Hilgers said. “Coming into this I had a feeling it was going to go the same way.”

Sophomore pitcher Sebastian Storch had the goods on the mound for the Outlaws. The right-hander pitched six innings and allowed just four hits and one earned run while striking out four Hawks batters.

Through the first five innings, Storch allowed two hits and kept La Pine, though the Hawks had multiple dangerous scoring chances, from crossing the plate.

In the first inning, Storch walked the first two batters, but worked out of the inning without giving up a run. And again in the fifth inning, with Sisters holding a narrow two-run lead, La Pine put two runners on without an out, but Storch was able to get the next three outs unscathed.

“I really leaned on my off-speed pitches to get me through the innings where there were runners on base,” Storch said. “I just trusted my mechanics and it all worked out. ”

La Pine senior pitcher Hunter Heal also had a solid outing on the mound. Aside from the home run hit by sophomore third baseman Jace Owens in the third inning and an unearned run in the fourth inning, Heal kept the Hawks in the game.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Hawks finally broke through at the plate. An unfavorable hop in the infield that led to an error set the table for senior center fielder Deacon Looney, who blasted a triple into center field to bring home La Pine’s first run of the game. Two batters later senior right fielder Daniel Price hit a double to bring home Looney to tie the game.

“These guys are fighters, they are warriors, and they are going to compete all seven innings,” Dillon said. “Even though we were down, I knew we could make a run at it late.”

But in the seventh inning, the Outlaws sent 10 batters to the plate and scored fours with senior infielder Justin deSmet coming up with what proved to be the game-winning single to drive in two runs and give Sisters a 6-2 lead.

“Hitting is contagious,” Hilgers said. “Once you get one, two hits, everyone starts hitting. We finally started putting a few together. Hopefully something similar on Friday.”

The Hawks added two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and brought the game-tying run to the plate. Junior second baseman Dylan Newton gave a ball a ride deep into left field, but junior left fielder Kayl Mock made a challenging running catch to end the ball game.

With an important victory under its belt, the Outlaws will host La Pine for a doubleheader on Friday with the first game scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

“This game was really important to set the tone,” Storch said. “We have two really big games on Friday. I was really glad that we got the win today.”