Pirates down AppleSox
Moses Lake 5
Wenatchee 3
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Pirates rallied to overcome a first inning deficit to knock off the visiting Wenatchee AppleSox Saturday night at Larson Playfield.
The AppleSox jumped out to an early lead by scoring three first inning runs off of Moses Lake starting pitcher Mike McCarthy.
Despite the early damage, McCarthy settled down and held Wenatchee scoreless in his seven innings pitched.
Moses Lake could not respond in the first, but began to rally in the bottom of the second inning when first baseman Brock Gates singled to right field to lead off the inning.
Gates advanced to second on a wild pitch, and moved to third when D.C. Legg grounded out. Gates scored when shortstop Tyler Heil singled to right field.
The Pirates could not add another run in the second, but cut the AppleSox lead to 3-1.
After Moses Lake shut down Wenatchee in the third, designated hitter Brandon Huerta led off the third inning with a single for the Pirates.
Huerta advanced to second when Cesar Lopez singled to left field. Huerta advanced to third on a Wenatchee wild pitch.
With one out, Gates hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Huerta, cutting the Moses Lake deficit to one run.
McCarthy kept the AppleSox off the scoreboard with a perfect fourth inning before the Pirates took the lead in the bottom of the inning.
The Pirates scored two runs in the fourth to take a 4-3 lead when the first three Moses Lake batters reached base and loaded the bases for the Pirates.
With the bases loaded and one out, Huerta was hit by a pitch, scoring Heil from third. Lopez reached base on a fielder's chioce when left fielder Glenn Gray was thrown out at home.
With two outs, the Pirates still had the bases loaded when Moses Lake catcher Devin Walker walked to score right fielder Ty Rubio.
Gates struck out to end the fourth, but the Pirates entered the fifth inning with a 4-3 advantage, the first lead of the game for Moses Lake.
The Pirates would add an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 5-3 lead when Huerta’s double scored Heil from second base.
Moses Lake hosts its final game of the season Thursday night at Larson Playfield when the Pirates host the Wenatchee AppleSox in a one game series.