Pirates wrap up home stand

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Pirates will wrap up a nine-game home stand tonight when they host the visiting Spokane RiverHawks in a one-game series.

The Pirates enter tonight’s contest with a 4-24 record, having won four of their last nine games.

Moses Lake broke their 20-game losing streak to start the season on July 3 with a 3-1 victory over the RiverHawks in Spokane, Wash.

The Pirates started the 2009 West Coast League (WCL) season 0-20, including finishing June at 0-18.

While Moses Lake has struggled to begin the season, the Pirates have showed signs of righting the ship.

Moses Lake took their first series of the season at home on July 5 against the RiverHawks when starting pitcher Brandon Rohde allowed just two runs on five hits while going seven innings to earn the victory.

The Moses Lake offense left little doubt in the contest, scoring runs in each of the first five innings to take a commanding 9-0 lead.

The Pirates tried to build momentum throughout the home stand, taking one of three from the Kitsap BlueJackets.

Moses Lake avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the BlueJackets July 9 when starting pitcher Mike Herrmann won his first start of the season for the Pirates.

Following Moses Lake’s three-game set with Kitsap, the Pirates hosted the Bellingham Bells in another three-game series.

The Pirates fell 8-3 in the series opener before Moses Lake and starting pitcher Billy Armstrong dominated game two to even the series.

Moses Lake looked destined to take their second series of the season Sunday night when WCL home run leader Chris Casazza hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Pirates a 7-6 lead over the Bells.

Casazza’s home run was the fifth of the season for the Moses Lake shortstop and was the second of the contest for the Pirates.

Moses Lake third baseman Nick Fuoco hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to help the Pirates pull within two runs of Bellingham at 6-4.

Following Casazza’s blast in the sixth, the Pirates kept the Bells off of the scoreboard in seventh before errors got to the Pirates in the eighth and ninth innings.

The Bells scored four runs on a hit and capitalized on three errors in the eighth. Bellingham added  four more runs on three hits and two errors in the ninth to stop the Pirates 14-7.

Although the Pirates have struggled the season, Moses Lake has 20 games remaining in the WCL season and the Pirates have shown flashes of brilliance.

Casazza (5) and Fuoco (3) rank first and third, respectively, in total home runs this season while Casazza is second in total bases with 45.

Moses Lake starting pitcher John Robinson has proved to be a dependable starter for the Pirates.

Robinson’s 40 innings this season are good enough for second in the WCL and his 34 strike outs lead the league. Armstrong ranks fourth in total strike outs with 27.

Although errors cost the Pirates in their series finale with Bellingham, no other fielder in the WCL has been more dependable than Moses Lake first baseman Justin Cooper.

Cooper has had 174 defensive chances this season and is fielding a perfect 1.000 in the field for the Pirates while Casazza (76) is third in assists.

Following tonight’s contest, the Pirates will travel to Kelowna, British Columbia for a three-game series with the Falcons before returning home for a three-game series July 21 with the Wenatchee AppleSox.

The opening pitch for tonight’s contest is scheduled for 7:35 p.m.