Pirates wrap up second consecutive series sweep
MOSES LAKE — With a 1-0 victory over the Kelowna Falcons Sunday, the Moses Lake Pirates swept their second consecutive series to improve to 12-3 on the season, the best mark in the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League.
The Pirates opened their series with Kelowna on Friday with an 8-3 victory, then followed that up with a 4-2 win on Saturday.
Moses Lake, which has won six straight since being swept by the Corvallis Knights a week ago, appears to have righted the ship and gotten back to their winning ways.
The Pirates have added consistency at the plate to their already powerful pitching staff and dependable defense to create a combination their WCCBL foes have been unable to match.
Moses Lake, which entered Sunday's action with the league's best ERA at 1.91 and best fielding defense, has recently climbed to second in league batting average at and first in on base percentage. According to coach Gabe Boruff, the production the Pirates have gotten at the plate should keep them at the top of the WCCBL standings.
"Our approaches are getting better," said Boruff of his team's discipline at the plate, noting his players are doing a better job of laying off bad pitches and protecting the plate with two strikes.
"It's not trying to crush the ball, it's timely hitting," said the Moses Lake coach.
"We don't display a lot of power," Boruff continued. "I don't want power, I want consistency; guys that can draw a walk, not guys going for the fence."
That consistency and ability to score runs with regularity has allowed the Pirates' pitching staff to contain opponents and lead the team to victory night after night.
"What we're doing is putting up three to six runs a night," said the Moses Lake coach. "Putting up four runs with this pitching staff, we can get a win most nights."
Saturday, the Pirates did just that, scoring four runs off Kelowna and holding the Falcons to just two unearned runs. Michael Ratigan crushed a double to the gap in left field to give the Pirates their first run of the game, part of a 3 for 4 performance on the night by the Ephrata native. Zach Kim posted a 3 for 5 effort on the night, upping his season average to .400, tops in the WCCBL entering Sunday's game.
The Pirates added to their lead in the fourth inning, taking advantage of a Kelowna error to score their first run and getting their second run on a sacrifice bunt by Kim.
It would be more than enough offense for Moses Lake starter Dale Reneau, who went a strong seven innings without giving up an earned run. Reneau, second in the WCCBL with a minuscule 0.77 ERA, struck out 12 Kelowna batters while allowing only five hits.
"I take my hat off to him," said Boruff of his starting pitcher, "What an outstanding performance."
Friday, the Moses Lake offense jumped all over Kelowna starter James Paxton, scoring five runs in the first two innings and forcing the Falcons to go to the bullpen with just one out in the second inning. Zach Hedges went 3 for 5 Friday with an RBI and a run scored, while Ben Guidos went five innings for Moses Lake on the mound to get the win.
Sunday, Moses Lake's pitching staff got the best of Kelowna as the Pirates won a 1-0 thriller.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the second inning off a Billy Swanson single down the left field line. Moses Lake starter Josh Fish went 5 1/3 innings, holding Kelowna to four hits and no runs before getting into a jam in the sixth inning.
Marcus Tackett came on to relieve Fish with one out in the sixth, inheriting runners at second and third base. Tackett got the Pirates out of the inning with ease, picking up a strikeout and a lazy flyout to left field to end the Kelowna threat.
Tackett also got out of trouble in the seventh inning, using a pair of strikeouts to prevent Kelowna from bringing a runner in from third base with only one out.
Closer Lee Roberts came on in the ninth inning, and got himself into a bit of trouble, giving up a walk and a bunt single to allow runners at first and second with one out. Roberts came back to get Kelowna's Ryan Lee to foul out, then struck out Kyle Schultz to pick up his league leading fifth save of the season.
Moses Lake now heads out on a seven-game road trip, beginning Tuesday at Corvallis. From there, Moses Lake moves on to play the Bend Elks and the Wenatchee AppleSox before returning to Larson Field on Wednesday, July 11 to host Wenatchee for the second game of a three-game series that alternates between Moses Lake and Wenatchee.