Ephrata wins marathon, district baseball title

EPHRATA — It was a game that, almost literally, never ended.

It was also a game the Ephrata Tigers refused to let slip away.

Thanks to a Saturday evening power outage and a Selah squad that also didn't quit, Ephrata needed roughly 49 hours to win the District 5/6 baseball championship, beating the Vikings 9-4 in nine innings Monday night.

"They came out and took this game," Tiger coach Jason Laugen said. "They wanted this game for a long time."

The teams resumed play in the top of the fourth inning Monday, two days after the lights at Ephrata's field failed to stay on for the originally scheduled 7 p.m. start. Both squads took a few innings to find their offensive stroke—the Tigers against Selah's Jake Fife and the Vikings against Ephrata's Tyler Lesko.

Ephrata took command in the sixth inning, loading the bases with no outs on two singles and a hit batter. After Derek Welton relieved Fife, Tiger shortstop Derrick Webb singled to center field for a 2-1 Tiger lead. A wild pitch brought Eric Tinnell in from third and catcher Kory Frank drilled an RBI single for a 4-1 lead.

Selah immediately countered with its own three-run frame, a sixth inning that could've proved more costly to the Tigers. A pair of run-scoring groundouts brought the Vikes within a run and Nick Hayter singled to left to knot the score.

Selah's Ryan Durkee followed with a drive to the wall in left, bringing Hayter home with what appeared to be the go-ahead run. But the umpire ruled Hayter bowled over Frank at the plate, ejecting him and ending the inning.

Selah had the best opportunity to win in regulation, loading the sacks in the seventh on two singles and an intentional walk. Lesko went to a 3-0 count on Chris Demond, but battled back and got the Viking senior on a flyout to center, ending the inning.

Both teams left a pair of runners on in the eighth, but Ephrata made good on its final threat in the ninth by sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five times on seven hits.

Pinch-hitter Brett Gray brought in the winning run, fighting off an inside pitch and blooping a single to center. Austin Chamberlin had a sacrifice fly, Webb parked a two-run double in the left-field gap and Frank knocked in the final run with a double to left.

Laugen credited Frank for some clutch play behind the plate and noted that the junior has become one of Tigers' clutch-time hitters after a slow start to the year.

"Tyler did a great job on the mound but he couldn't have done that without the guy behind the plate blocking pitches in the dirt," Laugen said.

Lesko got the win, pitching all nine innings. Laugen said he never felt Lesko was too tired to finish despite a Selah lineup that hit his fastball well.

"He's been my ace all season long," Laugen added. "This is the first time he's been challenged in a pressure situation. He kept telling me, 'I want this one, coach.'"

Ephrata moves into state competition this Saturday as the Central Washington Athletic Conference's top seed. The Tigers will face the Clarkston Bantams, seeded second out of the Great Northern League, at Davis High School in Yakima at 10 a.m.

The winner moves into quarterfinal play later that afternoon at the same site and will take on either Selah or GNL champion Pullman. The state semifinals and championship game take place May 25-26 at Wenatchee Valley College.

Laugen was unfamiliar with the Bantams, but said his team simply needs to bring its intensity and improve a bit on defense to be successful at state.

"We need to compete like we did today," he said. "This was a huge win for my boys and their confidence."