Pirates open season with offensive explosion

Over 1,100 fans on hand for season opener

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Pirates baseball club opened their second season of play with a dominant 13-0 victory over the Tacoma Cardinals Friday. Moses Lake followed that up with a 16-2 victory Saturday to improve to 2-0 on the season and set up a potential sweep of the non-league series.

Moses Lake took advantage of four Cardinal errors in the first inning Friday to build a 4-0 lead, and capitalized on further Tacoma miscues to go up 8-0 after three innings. Big Bend Community College sophomore Ryan Bernsen led the Pirates' offensive attack, going 3 for 4 with two doubles and four RBIs. Steve Tinoco went 3 for 6 for Moses Lake with three runs scored and also had two doubles.

Pirates' starter Tyler Rogers went five scoreless innings to earn the win in the season opener. Relievers Ben Graham, Daniel Wolford and Lee Roberts came in to shut down the Tacoma offense in the late innings, holding the Cardinals hitless over the final four innings.

"I was really impressed with our pitching staff," said Moses Lake coach Gabe Boruff.

Saturday, the Pirates' bats continued to sizzle, pounding out 17 hits on their way to a 16-2 victory. Moses Lake scored a mind-boggling 14 runs in the first inning of a game that was over before it began. Tinoco again starred at the plate, going 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Zoey Angulo was a perfect 3 for 3 with three RBIs and Mike Capbarat was 2 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs.

Ephrata native and Washington State University freshman pitcher Michael Ratigan started Saturday's game for the Pirates, scattering six hits over five innings and allowing just one earned run to pick up the victory.

While strong pitching by the Pirates and the Cardinals' fielding woes were the key factors in the two lopsided games, raw talent was the overwhelming factor in the Pirates' dismantling of the Cardinals over the weekend.

The Pirates, their roster loaded with NCAA Division I athletes, simply were a better group of players than the Cardinals, a squad composed almost exclusively of players from Green River Community College.

Boruff feels the talent on this year's roster will allow his club to continue to produce offensively throughout the season.

"I like this team, I like this team a lot," said Boruff. "We're going to be very competitive with our offense."

"The talent level is a little bit higher," added Boruff of his 2007 team. "Last year's team, we were a little overmatched some nights. I don't think that will be the case this year."

Last season, the Pirates finished seventh out of eight teams in most offensive categories. If Moses Lake can improve on those marks, they stand a good chance of improving upon the 16-26 mark they put up in their inaugural season.

Pirates' owner Brent Kirwan, after seeing his club put up 29 runs in just 16 innings, likes his team's chances of making some noise in the WCCBL this season.

"We've got some offense and everything's coming together," said Kirwan.

As good as the Pirates looked in their first two games, they should be even better once several key players finish up their collegiate seasons and make their way to Moses Lake.

The Pirates played Friday without their expected starters at second and third bases, and had several other players yet to join the club.

One of those players, former Warden pitcher Jorge Reyes, started for the Oregon State Beavers in game one of the NCAA Super Regional baseball playoffs Sunday, leading the Beavers to a 1-0 victory over the University of Michigan.

The Pirates next host the Olympia Athletics for a three-game series beginning tonight at 7:30 p.m. Moses Lake opens WBBCL play this Thursday as the Kitsap BlueJackets come to town for a three-game series. For more information on the Pirates, visit www.mlpirates.com.