Othello holds off Ephrata to advance at districts

OTHELLO — It isn’t over until it’s over.

People often say it.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Ephrata Tigers baseball team believed it.

After finding themselves trailing Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) rival Othello 18-3 in the top of the sixth inning of Tuesday’s district semifinal, the Tigers rallied during their final at-bats to pull within just four runs of the Huskies.

Despite Ephrata’s rally, Othello held on for a 19-15 victory to advance to the finals.

Although the Huskies allowed the Tigers an opportunity to claw their way back in the late innings, Othello head coach Larry Gonzalez said he was happy to see his team advance to the district final.

“We got the win,” he said. “We might not have gotten it the way I wanted to, but we got it.”

Othello jumped on the Tigers early, building a 12-1 lead after just three innings of play.

The Huskies were able to pour it on in the early innings by capitalizing on multiple two-out hits, Gonzalez said.

“That was huge for us,” Gonzalez said of scoring runs with two outs. “We were scoring with two outs and it wasn’t just one run, it was two and three runs.”

After a two-out, 2-run single by C.J. Garza gave the Huskies a 12-1 lead in the third inning, Othello looked destined to cruise to the victory.

However, Ephrata senior right fielder Brett Robinson led off the fourth inning with a home run to help the Tigers pull within 12-2.

Although the Tigers got a run back in the top of the fourth, the Huskies took an 18-3 advantage into the sixth.

With his team trailing late Tuesday afternoon, Ephrata head coach Jason Laugen said he was proud to see his team persevere.

“When you are down 18-3 to a team, it’s pretty easy to give up,” he said. “It just goes to show you that these kids fight.”

And fight they did.

Ephrata rallied from an 18-3 deficit and pulled within four runs of Othello at 19-15 before the Huskies got the final out of the contest in the top of the seventh to claim the 19-15 victory.

Although the Tigers closed the gap late in Tuesday’s contest, Gonzalez said he is satisfied knowing his team will play for the district title.

“It feels really good,” he said. “This was one of our goals this year. At the end of the season we wanted to be in this situation.”