One step closer to World Series

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little brighter.

But not easier.

The Columbia Basin Junior River Dogs battled the Moscow Blue-Aviators to a 13-3 victory in the first day of the 16-year-old Babe Ruth regional tournament at Larson Field. Ray Valle went the distance in the win and Mike Miller blasted a two-run home run to highlight the game.

"We actually got to do this without using anyone else and that is what we wanted to do," Junior River Dog manager Chuck Hansen said about his pitching situation.

Columbia Basin ended the game early in the sixth inning after scoring five runs off Marques Miller of Moscow for the 13-3 win.

The kind of win Hansen was hoping for to cool the nerves of an anxious ball club. Nerves that showed up early against the Blue-Aviators.

"I think everyone was nervous including me," Hansen said. "Our first game of the regional tournament in front of the home crowd and I think they were nervous and it took them a couple innings to settle down."

Moscow put the first run on the board, scoring on an error in the top of the first inning. The Junior River Dogs bounced back in the bottom of the inning with two runs of its own, including an one of two RBIs from Mike Ratigan.

In the top of the second inning, Valle gave up back-to-back singles to Rex Ireland and Tyler Randall and a two-run single off the bat of Zack Divilbiss, allowing the Blue-Aviators to take a 3-2 lead.

"He was a little nervous too going in and we got him to settle down," Hansen said. "The defense made some errors and that rattled him and I told him to keep doing what he is doing and the defense will come around and they did."

Hansen's pep talk to his pitcher settled the right-hander who allowed one hit over the last four innings of work to pick up the complete game along with the win.

At the plate, Columbia Basin began to heat up. Eric Sorensen opened up the second inning with a single and moved to third on Matt Clark's double. Both runners scored on Oscar Borunda's single back up the middle and Miller's sacrifice fly to right field.

Edward Rodriguez grounded out to the pitcher, but allowed Borunda to score on the play. Reed Forrest scored for the Junior River Dogs in the third on a wild pitch and Miller's two-run blast in the fourth pushed Columbia Basin ahead 8-3.

The Junior River Dogs loaded the bases in the sixth on three straight singles for Jeff Jack, who cleared the bases on a double to left field. Jack later scored on Ratigan's double down the right field line.

Ratigan later scored on a wild pitch and Reed Forrest put the game ending run on the board on a shortstop error, handing Columbia Basin a 13-3 win.

Columbia Basin entered the tournament as the host team and skipped the state tournament because of that positioning. The week off from tournament play didn't slow their style, according to Hansen.

"They start out rough and they always settle down and get used to what the pitcher is throwing and then start wacking it," Hansen said.

The road to the World Series is a little smoother, but Hansen isn't ready to look ahead.

"I think it gets a little harder because you get a little anxious and can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Hansen added. "We are just trying to take this one game at a time and have fun with each one of them and see what happens."