Sun Devils play well in runner-up performance
PORT ANGELES — The Moses Lake Sun Devils, a 15-and-under All-Star squad, came up one win shy of a regional tournament berth at the Babe Ruth baseball state championships held July 19-22.
The Sun Devils, coming off their district championship in Ellensburg, opened with a 4-2 win over South Kitsap, scoring twice in the top of the seventh inning to break free from a 2-all tie. Ricco Moreno had an RBI single to plate the go-ahead run.
Moses Lake got solid starting pitching from Artey Reyes, who went five innings and allowed two runs while striking out seven. Luke Valdez retired six of the last seven hitters to earn the win.
The Sun Devils earned another dramatic win in their next game, downing Central Basin 9-8. Trailing 8-6 in its last at-bat, Moses Lake trimmed the lead when Austin Sandmann delivered an RBI single. The Sun Devils loaded the bases with two outs, and a Central Basin error allowed the tying and winning runs to score.
Sandmann led an explosive offensive outing, going 3 for 4 with three singles. Tanner Lowry, Ian Lochow and Moreno each had two hits. Garrett Greninger and Erick Rios both had one single apiece.
Moses Lake concluded pool play with an eight-inning, 7-5 defeat to North Kitsap, but clinched first place in the pool on the runs allowed tiebreaker.
Down 4-2 in the seventh, Levi Gross and Moreno delivered back-to-back doubles to trim the deficit. Greninger followed with a single, scoring Moreno and sending the game to extras. North Kitsap, however, used three hits to score three runs in the top of the eighth, and the Sun Devils managed only one run on Joey Johnson's RBI single.
Johnson also did a great job in middle relief, retiring nine straight batters. Moreno went 4 for 5 with a double, while Lochow finished 2 for 2 with a pair of singles.
In the semifinals, Moses Lake crushed Marysville, getting a tremendous performance from starting pitcher Lochow in a 12-0 thrashing that ended after five innings. Lochow went the distance, limiting Marysville to two hits.
The Sun Devils totaled 13 hits, with Lowry going 4 for 4 with three singles and a double. Rios was 3 for 3 with a double and Gross picked up two singles in four at-bats.
The victory advanced Moses Lake to the championship game, where it fell 8-6 in a rematch with Central Basin.
Both teams' pitching staffs dominated the first five-and-a-half innings, but Moses Lake opened the floodgates in the bottom of the sixth. Trailing 2-1, the Sun Devils got a leadoff double from Lowry. One out later, Brandon Moreno smacked a two-run double and gave his team a 3-2 lead.
But Central Basin took advantage of several Sun Devils miscues in the seventh, scoring six times and eventually hanging on for the win and a spot in next week's Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament in Astoria, Ore.
Gross and Lowry led the Sun Devils' offense in the title game, with both finishing 3 for 4. Greninger went 2 for 4 with a single and a double.