Moses Lake ends baseball playoff drought

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Chiefs finished up the regular season with a nonleague baseball doubleheader against the Southridge Suns Friday at Larson Playfield.

While the Chiefs lost 3-1 and 9-2 against the Suns, Moses Lake now moves on to Columbia Basin League District Tournament play.

According to Chiefs' coach Ed McNamara, this will be the Chiefs' first trip to the postseason since 2003.

"It's gonna be a tough road," said McNamara of Moses Lake's hopes of a top-two finish at districts and a regional-tournament berth. "We're gonna need every one of our pitchers to pitch well."

"We're ready for it," McNamara added.

Friday, Moses Lake opened their doubleheader against Southridge with a 3-1 loss. The Suns jumped on Moses Lake starter Troy Stephens for two runs in the first inning, but from there the Chiefs regained their composure and played Southridge even for the rest of the contest.

Moses Lake's only run of the game came in the second inning, as Blaine Myers, Josh Martinez and Matt Valdez pieced together consecutive singles to load the bases. With two outs and the bases loaded, Aaron Morice took a 3-2 pitch that missed the strike zone for a walk, forcing in Myers from third for the run.

It would not be enough as the Suns contained the Moses Lake offense through the rest of the game.

Looking ahead to this Friday's district-tournament opener, the Chiefs will travel to Richland to take on the Walla Walla Blue Devils at 1 p.m. During the CBL regular season, Moses Lake swept Walla Walla, winning a pair of close games 3-2 and 4-3. In both games, the Chiefs fell behind early before rallying for victories.

While McNamara hopes the close games with the Blue Devils and other CBL foes throughout the season will help prepare his team for the pressure of tournament play, the Chiefs aren't entering Friday's loser-out contest with Walla Walla expecting an easy victory.

"Beating them twice doesn't make us overconfident," said the Chiefs' coach of the wins over the Blue Devils. "But, it gives us an idea of what they have."

"I feel comfortable playing close games," added McNamara.

If Moses Lake can defeat Walla Walla, they will move into the double-elimination rounds of the CBL tournament. Friday's Chiefs'-Blue Devils winner has the unenviable task of taking on league champion Richland for a trip to the district title game.

"With one game, baseball, anything can happen," remarked McNamara of the Chiefs' chances when asked about the potential matchup with Richland.