Moses Lake to host Eastmont in district tourney

MOSES LAKE — After finishing their Columbia Basin Big Nine regular season schedule with a share of the Columbia Division title, the Moses Lake Chiefs girls softball team will host the Eastmont Wildcats this afternoon in the first round of the district playoffs.

Moses Lake finished their Columbia Division schedule tied for first place with co-division champion Southridge. Both the Chiefs and the Suns finished their division schedules with 10-2 records.

With a share of the Columbia Division lead, the Chiefs earned the right to host a first-round match up with the Cascade Division’s No.3 seed — the Eastmont Wildcats.

The Chiefs and the Wildcats met on April 7 at Larson Playfield and Eastmont knocked off Moses Lake in back-to-back games to get the sweep.

Although Eastmont is 2-0 against the Chiefs this season, Moses Lake head coach Dave Gregory said his team has improved since that meeting more than a month ago.

“We played them earlier and they swept us,” he said. “We are a better team now. We have been coming along and we are crushing the ball.”

Moses Lake enters today’s district playoff game with a strong senior leader in catcher Shelby Gonzales.

Gonzales led the Big Nine in RBIs this season with 35 while batting .448 for the Chiefs.

Gonzales is not just a force at the plate, Gregory said she is his leader behind the plate.

“She is everything you could ask for,” he said. “She is the leader of the team. She is pulling everyone together and she has really helped (junior starting pitcher) Karly (Stoltman) out a lot.”

With Gonzales behind the plate, Stoltman has rolled to 14 wins the season, good enough for second most in the conference. Stoltman also led the league in strike outs this season.

“(Karly) has been doing a great job,” Gregory said. “As long as she throws strikes, we can compete with anybody.”

Although the Wildcats managed to sweep the Chiefs back in April, Gregory said the postseason is another story.

“The playoffs are a whole different ball game,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you did all year, it is what you are doing now. You can throw all the stats away, it’s how you perform. On paper, right now, we are the best team, no doubt about it, but you can’t play with paper.”

The first pitch for today’s district playoff game between the Chiefs and the Wildcats is scheduled for 4 p.m.