Garza leads Huskies to state

YAKIMA — Othello senior Marc Garza kept the Huskies alive with his performance on the mound in game one of Saturday’s regional baseball tournament and he pushed Othello into the final four of the state tournament with his performance at the plate in game two.

Othello head coach Larry Gonzalez said he was confident his team could reach the semifinals of the state tournament after winning the district title May 16.

“After the district championship game, we were feeling great going into the regionals,” he said.

Garza recovered from a slow start on the mound to begin Saturday’s regional tournament to pitch a complete game, holding Cheney to four runs on just three hits.

Garza struck out four Cheney batters in game one and the Huskies avoided elimination and advanced into the regional championship game against Pullman. Othello’s Isaiah Suarez pitched into the fifth inning of the Huskies’ game with Pullman, recording eight strike outs in the process and Huskies won 9-4.

The Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning before the Greyhounds rallied for three runs in the top of the third.

With his team staring down a 3-1 deficit, Garza went to work. The senior shortstop stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the third inning and connected on a pitch from Pullman’s AJ Thierren for the first of his two home runs in the game — a 2-run shot.

Garza is playing his best baseball at the perfect time of the season, Gonzalez said.

“He is seeing the ball well right now, he has been in some pretty good situations,” he said. “He has been in the right situations at the right time.”

The Greyhounds tried to rally in the top of the fourth inning, pulling within 5-4 of Othello.

That would be as close as Pullman would get as Garza hit a grand slam — his second home run of the contest — in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Huskies took a 9-4 advantage.

Garza finished the contest going 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of home runs and seven RBIs.

Gonzalez said Garza’s performance in Saturday’s win over Pullman was impressive.

“I think he had a whole season in that one game,” he said. “He had joked about (a home run) earlier. He said, ‘I’m going to hit one out today.’”

Senior Jakob Scott went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI and Lee Gomez went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.

Senior pitcher Mike Garza came on in relief in the sixth inning, striking out four to clinch the game for the Huskies.

With the weekend sweep, Othello moved into the final four of the 2A baseball playoffs.

Only four teams remain in the 2A state tournament and Gonzalez said Cedarcrest is a good ball club.

“Every team is pretty solid because there are only four of them left,” he said. “They are well-coached. They are going to do the little things well.”

Othello will play the Cedarcrest Redwolves in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon at County Stadium in Yakima, Wash.