Huskies rally to sweep Jacks

QUINCY — The Othello Huskies got their Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) baseball season back on track Saturday afternoon with a pair of victories over the Quincy Jackrabbits.

Othello won the first game 10-1 before holding on in the second game 9-6.

In the first game, the Huskies and the Jacks each found their way on to the scoreboard in the second inning. Othello scored in the top of the inning and Quincy scored in the bottom of the second to pull even at 1-1.

Although both teams managed to push a run across in the second, Othello starting pitcher Isaiah Suarez and Quincy starting pitcher Brett Petersen settled down and the CWAC rivals took a 1-1 tie into the seventh.

With Othello at the plate, the Huskies forced Quincy into committing four errors in the inning.  Othello capitalized for nine unanswered runs and the Huskies knocked off Quincy 10-1  to earn the game-one victory.

While Othello came away with the win, Othello head coach Larry Gonzalez said his team needs to perform better at the plate.

“I was still a little disappointed, offensively,” he said. “We need to be more patient and disciplined. We need to be more consistent at the plate.”

Although the Jacks fell in the opening game of the doubleheader, Quincy head coach Pat McGuire said was proud of his team’s performance.

“We were fairly competitive,” he said. “It was kind of a moral victory. I think (we) played really well.”

Despite surrendering 10 runs in the game-one loss to Othello, Petersen was not credited with an earned run in the defeat. Suarez led the Huskies to victory with 13 strikeouts.

After suffering a game-clinching lapse in the seventh inning of game one, the Jacks came out in the second game with something to prove.

Othello managed to take the early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. However, Quincy rallied in the home-half of the inning scoring five runs for a 5-1 lead.

“We just came out and hit the ball pretty well,” McGuire said. “We came out swinging.”

While Quincy rallied to take their first lead in the bottom of the first, Othello responded with five runs in the top of the second to reclaim the lead at 6-5. Othello managed to outscore Quincy 3-1 down the stretch for a 9-6 victory and a series sweep.

Quincy had their chances to earn a split with the Huskies, but the Jacks left 12 runners on base in the game-two loss, McGuire said.

Although Othello came away with the victory, Gonzalez said his team needs to improve.

“We had too many errors,” he said. “We had eight in the first game and four in the second.”