River Dogs send the pack packing

Columbia Basin goes undefeated in weekend tournament

EPHRATA — The River Dogs finished the weekend on top, taking all seven of their games en route to winning the Washington State Open tournament.

The River Dogs won both Thursday and Friday's games by eight run decisions against Triple-Play Tacoma and the Spokane Heat.

Friday night's game against the Vancouver B.C. Mounties was canceled due to rain, so the River Dogs played their first-ever triple header on Saturday.

Entering Saturday, the River Dogs battled against the Mounties, but prevailed with a 5 - 4 win. The Dogs gained momentum shutting out Hudson Bay High from Vancouver, Wash. 5- 0 and entered their fifth game against Lumber Kings from Oregon with solid hitting.

They got out to a quick lead, scoring five in the first two innings and giving up only one run.

In the third inning, with bases loaded, the River Dogs' Chad Hunter extended their lead 9 - 1 with a grand slam. The Dog's scored two more runs, one in the third and fourth innings to win by an eight point decision 11 - 2.

"We really hit the ball well, pretty much the whole team this weekend," said head coach Randy Boruff. "We hit the ball with authority."

Sonny Garza was the winning pitcher, throwing a two-hitter in the game.

Securing the win automatically placed the River Dogs in the championship game, even though they had two games remaining.

Sunday, they beat the Washington Select Gators from Auburn 15 - 1 before a rematch in the championship game with the Spokane Heat.

Hawkins Gebbers put the River Dogs on the board in the third inning with a two-run homer. The River Dogs held the Heat scoreless until the fifth inning, when Derek Shoemaker gave up a two run homer that tied the game 2 - 2.

In the sixth, Brad Tracy singled to put pinch runner Garrett Dano on base. Edward Rodriguez made a sacrifice bunt, sending, Dano to second. After a wild pitch, Dano stole third base after a throw that got away from the catcher. The catcher made a wild throw to third allowing Dano to score the winning run.

Shoemaker closed out the next two innings by striking out five batters. The River Dogs won the championship game 3-2.

"We had nine home runs over the weekend," Boruff said. "We hit the ball as well as we have hit in the last couple of years."

But Boruff said the real success was in the defense.

"We didn't have more than two errors over the weekend," he said. "Our strengths are our pitching and our defense. Our starting pitching this weekend was really good."

The River Dogs play in Spokane and Tacoma before regionals.

"Our guys are coming out and playing some really great baseball," coach Chuck Hanson said. "We have two weeks until regionals and I think we are peaking at the right time."

The River Dogs will host this year's regional tournament July 28 - Aug. 1 in Ephrata.