Moses Lake a menace to Phantoms

Walleyes tag Kennewick for 23 runs in doubleheader

Moses Lake opened the flood gates against Kennewick, dousing the Phantoms for 23 runs in the doubleheader.

Derik Lefave and Brandon Price picked up wins as the Walleyes swept Kennewick 10-2 and 13-5 at Larson Field on Thursday. Garrett Dano created five runs in the second game, reaching base on a second baseman error that scored two runs and driving three home with a double to right field.

"This puts us 10-6 in league and right there shooting for the third spot and no one has really beat us," coach Ryan Kies said.

The win set the Walleyes for the Montana Tournament in Kalispell, Mont. over the weekend, before six game stretch of league opponents. Kies said he is confident Moses Lake can grab that third spot heading into district tournament play.

"We are not a great team, but we play," Kies said.

Kies added that pitching will help the Walleyes stand out and got that needed performance from Lefave and Price. Lefave allowed two runs during his time on the mound in game one.

Price started the second game with a strike out, then gave up back-to-back singles before retiring the next two batters.

Moses Lake answered at the bottom of the first inning, reaching base safely in six straight chances. Brady Coker and Brian McCaffery opened with singles and Zane Bator got hit by a pitch to load the bases and no outs for Josh Munoz.

Munoz drew a walk to score the first run of the game, while Jeremy Martinez, Adrian Villa and Chase Hunter drove in runs for the Walleyes, putting up six runs in the first inning.

The Phantoms broke Price's shutout in the fourth after loading the bases on three straight free passes. Price struck out the next two batters, but gave up an RBI single before striking out the last batter of the inning.

"Brandon got in a groove and had real command of his pitches," Kies said. "He got into a situation, but did a nice job getting out of it."

Kennewick continued the offensive production in the fifth with two runs, but Moses Lake put the game out of reach with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Moses Lake added three runs in the sixth inning off a double by Munoz to finish the offensive production on both sides of the diamond with a 13-5 victory for the Walleyes.

Price finished the game with nine strike outs and allowed three runs on five hits in the win. Kies said the performance of Lefave and Price assured the sweep against Kennewick.

"When things are going good, he gets back on the mound and it is a rhythm thing," Kies said about Price. "Derik, again pitched strikes and has command of all three pitches."