Othello Huskies wrap up second place Saturday
OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies clinched the Central Washington Athletic Conference’s (CWAC) No. 2 seed at the district baseball tournament with a doubleheader sweep of the Prosser Mustangs.
The Huskies jumped on the Mustangs with three runs in the bottom of the first inning and Othello never looked back on their way to a 7-3 victory in game one.
Othello senior Lee Gomez helped power the Huskies in game one, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run.
Othello head coach Larry Gonzalez said Gomez is performing well at the plate.
“He is just playing his game right now,” Gonzalez said. “He has been doing that for us all season.”
Othello jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings but Gonzalez said his team allowed an early lead to affect their play in game one.
“In the first game we did a couple of things well but we got a little complacent and lazy at the plate and we ended up having to go seven innings,” he said.
Although the Huskies and Mustangs went seven innings in game one Saturday, Othello pitchers Chris Brunetti and Mike Garza combined for a four-hitter in the Huskies victory.
After knocking off the Mustangs in game one, the Huskies left no doubt in their second game with Prosser.
The Huskies scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning and senior pitcher Marc Garza held Prosser to just two hits in the 10-0 victory. Gomez hit his second home run of the afternoon to help propel the Othello offense.
With the sweep of Prosser, the Huskies remained in a second-place tie with the Ephrata Tigers. However, the Huskies clinched the No. 2 district seed and the Tigers fell to the No. 3 seed because of a tie-breaker draw at the beginning of the season, Gonzalez said.
Athletic directors from the CWAC drew numbers at the beginning of the season to break a possible tie. Othello drew No. 9 and Ephrata drew No. 10, Gonzalez said.
With the district’s No. 2 seed secured, Othello will receive a bye into the semifinals and Gonzalez said that gives his team an advantage.
“It is huge because we get to host a game instead of having to travel,” he said. “We don’t have to play until May 12. All we have to do is win that one and we are in the regionals.”
Ephrata 13-11, Toppenish 0-0
TOPPENISH, Wash. — Ephrata remained in a second-place tie with Othello Saturday when the Tigers cruised to a doubleheader sweep of the Toppenish Wildcats.
Ephrata senior Bryce Todd threw a one-hit shutout in the opener to help the Tigers take game one 13-0.
The Tigers jumped on the Wildcats early in both games Saturday and Ephrata cruised to a pair of mercy-rule shortened victories.
Todd helped lead the Ephrata offense in game one when he went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs.
The Tigers continued to cruise in the second game of the doubleheader when they won 11-0.
Tyson Hubbard helped push Ephrata to the sweep when he went 3-for-3 in game two with a pair of RBIs.
With the sweep of Toppenish, the Tigers remained in a second-place tie with Othello.
The Tigers and Huskies split the season series 1-1 but the conference’s athletic directors drew numbers at the beginning of the season to break a possible tie. Othello drew No. 9 and Ephrata drew No. 10.
Selah 8-13, Quincy 0-1
SELAH, Wash. — Quincy couldn’t maintain the momentum from pitcher Brett Petersen’s perfect game last week as the Selah Vikings and 2009 Central Washington Athletic Conference baseball champions wrapped up their perfect season with a doubleheader sweep.
The Vikings held the Jackrabbits to just five hits Saturday and forced six Quincy errors to complete the sweep.
Selah jumped on Quincy early in both contests and the Jackrabbits could never recover.
Columbia-Burbank 9-7, Royal 4-2
ROYAL CITY — Despite a two-run home run from senior catcher Connor Paysse in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader with Columbia-Burbank, the Royal Knights couldn’t fend off the Coyotes.
After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning of game one, the Knights rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to take their first lead of the contest 2-1.
The Knights kept the Coyotes off of the scoreboard in the second before Columbia-Burbank took the lead 3-2 with two runs in the third. Royal recovered in the bottom of the third to take their second lead at 4-3.
Although Royal led in the third, the Coyotes scored in every inning of game one except the second and Columbia-Burbank held on for a 9-4 victory.
Columbia-Burbank never trailed in game two of the doubleheader after taking a 2-1 lead after three innings of play and the Coyotes swept Royal at home.
Warden 20-15, Wahluke 1-1
MATTAWA, Wash. — The Warden Cougars boys baseball team improved to 11-7 overall Saturday when they cruised past the Wahluke Warriors in both games of a doubleheader.
The Cougars pounced on the Warriors early in both contests and Warden cruised past Wahluke 20-1 in game one and 15-1 in game two.
Warden starting pitcher Abraham Mendiola held the Warriors to just one run on two hits and catcher Robert Pruneda led the Cougars at the plate, going 4-for-4 with three RBIs in game one.
Warden continued to dominate the South Central Athletic Conference contest in game two when pitchers Michael Smith and Pruneda combined for a four-hitter in the victory.
Arty Reyes went 2-for-2 in game two with three walks and Johnny Guerra went 2-for-3 to help push the Cougars to victory.