'Productive weekend' for the Sun Devils
The Moses Lake Sun Devils are (back row) Matt Noyola, Isaac Murrell, Kody Samuals, Nick Laszlo, (middle row) Coach Central, Colby Swartz, Anthony Hernandez, Brandon Moreno, Cameron Alvarado,ÊAustinÊSandmann, Coach Valdez, Coach Whitaker, (front row) Nick Dodds, Mitch Yada, Nathaniel Steffler, Brett Lopez, Omar Suarez and Luke Valdez. Photo courtesy of Beth Laszlo
MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake Sun Devils, a U16 Junior Legion team, started out their season with a 1-3 record as they hosted the Sun Devils Classic Wood Bat tournament last weekend.
"It was a productive weekend," coach Quintz Whitaker of the Sun Devils team said. "We (coaches) got a chance to see everyone play and how they handle game action. Our pitching was definitely our strength, hopefully that will continue throughout the season," he added.
In the first game of the tournament, Anthony Hernandez got the start on the mound and gave up one earned run over six innings. However, the Sun Devils could not get a clutch hit and lost 3-2 to the Seattle Renagades.
Colby Swartz rounded out the weekend pitching a complete game with a 2-1 win over the Mudville Pinnacles.
After Matt Noyola started the runs, adding an RBI in the second to account for the Sun Devils first run, Brandon Moreno led off the seventh inning with a single, when Nick Dodds came in as the courtesy runner for Moreno.
After advancing to second from a pitching error, Dodds then stole third and took home on a throwing error by the catcher.
"The team played well in every game, but struggled to get the bats going in almost every contest," Whitaker said. "Pitching was the theme all weekend for the Sun Devils."
"Now we have some time off to work on things we want to sharpen up hitting wise before we head to Spokane in a couple weeks," he added.
The next tournament for the Sun Devils will be held in Spokane June 7 and 8. Their next home game will be June 10 against Coeur D'Alene, Idaho at Lauzier Field in Moses Lake at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.