SISTERS — Beating a team twice is hard enough. Doing it three times is an even greater feat. Getting a fourth win in as many tries, the Sisters learned Wednesday evening in the second round of the Class 3A baseball playoffs, proved to be the toughest of them all.

In a matchup between Mountain Valley Conference rivals, the fifth-seeded Outlaws won their fourth game of the season against No. 12 La Pine, holding on for a 7-6 victory to advance to the state quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.

“We have played them 10 times in the last year and six or seven of the games have been decided by three runs or less,” said Sisters coach Matt Hilgers. “So I knew it was going to be close. I know we jumped out to an early lead, but credit to (La Pine), they battled back and fought back. We were fortunate to come out with a win.”

The Outlaws had beaten the Hawks three times — 6-3, 10-3 and 8-0 — during the regular season. But the players were well aware that a fourth win would be no easy task, especially against a rival.

“It’s the playoffs, anything can happen,” said starting pitcher Sebastian Storch, who pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and five runs (one earned) while striking out five La Pine batters. “We knew if we didn’t play our game, they were going to take it from us. Credit to them, we were up big early and they did not roll over.”

Storch was cruising through the first three innings, allowing only three base runners and one hit while keeping the Hawks off the scoreboard. Meanwhile, the Outlaws had built a five-run lead through three innings mainly by playing a bit of small ball, as sacrifice bunts turned into base runners.

Senior center fielder Kayl Mock, junior catcher Jace Owens and Storch all drove in runs in the first two innings, then a balk and a La Pine error in the field led to the Outlaws building a 5-0 lead.

But in the fourth inning La Pine began to mount a comeback.

An error on a routine popup in the infield opened the door for a big, five-run La Pine inning to even the score. A two-run double by sophomore center fielder Dayton Wilkinson immediately followed by a two-run double by junior catcher David Taylor made it a 5-5 ball game. All five La Pine runs in the inning came with two outs.

“Getting down 5-0 on the road in the playoffs, that’s not an easy thing to come back from,” said La Pine coach Cade Wilkins. “We just kept chipping away. Guys stepped up when we needed them to and we made it a ballgame.”

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Mock again drove in a run with a double to give the Outlaws a 6-5 lead, then senior shortstop Landen Scott scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 7-5.

In the sixth inning, the Hawks loaded the bases with one out. Hilgers went to junior Trent Gordon out of the bullpen and the right-hander delivered. He got the final two outs, allowing only one run to score in the inning before retiring three of the final four batters in the seventh inning to close the door on the Hawks.

“I was nervous, not gonna lie,” Gordon said. “I think nerves are a good thing. If you aren’t nervous you probably don’t care enough. I came in and I knew if I was going to throw strikes (La Pine) was going to put the ball in play. We were going to let them hit the ball and we were going to get the outs.”

Sisters will now travel to Lincoln City to take on No. 4 Taft on Friday at 5 p.m. with a spot in the 3A state semifinals on the line. It is a matchup the Outlaws are eager to play for multiple reasons.

For one, Hilgers coached for two seasons at Taft before taking over at Sisters in 2023. But for the players — especially the six football players currently on the baseball team — they would love nothing more than getting back at the Tigers, who eliminated them from the football state playoffs this past fall.

“I know (Hilgers) always wants to win and especially against his old school,” Gordon said. “Our loss in the football playoffs plays a part in us wanting to go over there and show them what we are made of.”

2A/1A second-round playoffs

No. 8 Irrigon 2, No. 9 Culver 1

Senior pitcher Houston Wittenberg threw a gem for Culver, allowing just one hit and one earned run while striking out 11 Irrigon batters in the loss. He walked just three batters.

The Knights scored both their runs in the fourth inning when a sacrifice bunt from Xander Olmin turned into an error that resulted in the two runs.

The Bulldogs scored their only run in the top of the fourth inning when senior third baseman Carlos Fernandez scored on a passed ball.