River Dogs take fifth

Team takes fifth after winning four straight

WALLA WALLA - While the Columbia Basin River Dogs seem to be peaking at the right time of the season, the team could not help but drop the opening round game of last weekend's Bears Invitational in Walla Walla.

The River Dogs fell in the first game of the tournament 10-5 to the Hanford Flames before rebounding to take fifth place out of 15 teams.

Despite losing the first game of the tournament, River Dogs manager Randy Boruff said he was satisfied with his team's performance.

"We stumbled out of the blocks," he said. "But by the end of the tournament we were the best team there."

The River Dogs backed up Boruff's claim by winning its final four tournament games, outscoring its opponents 76-20 to wrap up fifth place.

Following last weekend's tournament, the River Dogs have a record of 33-12-1 this season and have won 16 of its last 20 games heading into this week's state tournament in Ephrata.

The River Dogs first state tournament game is against South Kitsap at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night at Ephrata High School.