Young Tigers hold on to nip visiting Huskies
Alan Dale/Columbia Basin Herald<br> Ephrata's Jacob Green (15) beats out the throw to third and Othello's Shon Valdez (7) during the Tigers' three-run second inning on Tuesday. Ephrata held on for a 5-3 victory.
Ellensburg 12, Quincy 1 (5 inn) -
EPHRATA — Two teams met with different viewpoints on their current status.
When all was said and done, roles may have reversed fields if not at least temporarily.
The Ephrata Tigers, behind the pitching of Tanner Williams, held on to defeat Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) rivals Othello, 5-3 on Tuesday and in the process built back some momentum while stymieing the Huskies’.
“We played a pretty good game,” Ephrata coach Jason Laughen said. “Nine hits off of Othello pitching is pretty good.”
The sophomore Williams pitched a complete game for the win, recording three strikeouts and walking five while allowing four hits.
Williams’ only mistake came in the fifth inning when he gave up a three-run homerun to Othello’s Chris Brunetti to cut Ephrata’s lead to 4-3.
“Tanner pitched extremely well even if he didn’t have his best stuff,” Laughen said. “He kept Othello off balance and they weren’t able to get ahold of him until the fifth inning, especially with Brunetti’s home run.”
Othello (12-3, 10-3) had been accustomed to big run production and multiple-run innings but only found a way to score in one frame.
“Ephrata’s pitcher did a nice job of changing it up on us and we didn’t adjust to it,” Othello coach Larry Gonzales said. “They were also able to bring players home who were in scoring position and we weren’t.”
Ephrata (5-10, 5-8) got going in the bottom of the second when they got three runs to cross home plate in a four-hit inning, highlighted by Marco Solis’ single that brought in two as the Tigers led 3-0.
In the fourth inning a Solis double brought in Grant Kallstrom, who singled earlier, and Ephrata led 4-0.
But Othello wouldn’t quit and Brunetti’s three-run blast cut the Tigers’ lead to one and set up for a tense finish.
“They fought their at the end and Chris has been hitting the ball really well,” Gonzales said. “But pitching-wise we can’t be giving up the hits with two-strikes on the hitter. Ephrata’s always been a good hitting team and if you live balls over the plate you are going to get hit.”
Ephrata proved his point in their half of the fifth as Williams helped his own cause with a double that brought in Clayton Bracht from third and the Tigers led 5-3.
“I felt pretty good about holding them off,” Laughen said.
Williams pitched the last two innings to secure the win.
“There were no outs when Brunetti hit the homer but I talked to Tanner and said just get the next three outs and he did,” Laughen said. “It says he’s starting to grow a little bit more mentally and to compete more on the mound.”
Solis led the offenses with a 2-for-4 outing while seven Tigers recorded a single for Ephrata.
Brunetti finished 2-for-3 as he and Solis each ended up with three RBI.
Now Othello hopes to get back in gear before their big showdown with Ellensburg on Saturday.
“After that loss it’s hard to say because I thought we would be taking steps in the right direction,” Gonzales said. “This feels like a step back. I told the kids that baseball is a funny game and we can get right back to it.”
For Ephrata it is now a matter if the team can take more than just a win from this game and begin to build on a strong finish over the rest of their schedule.
“It depends now on where the kids go from here,” Laughen said. “We had that big win over Ellensburg but didn’t show that potential again until tonight. They need to go into games expecting to win and to work for it. It’s a learning experience right now so we will see where it takes us.”
Ellensburg 12, Quincy 1 (5 inn)
QUINCY — A six-run third inning was enough for the Ellensburg Bulldogs to pull away in a 12-1 win over the host Quincy Jacks on Tuesday.
Quincy scored in the second-inning when Daniel Padron doubled and was brought home on a Trevor Hyer single.
Quincy (8-7, 7-6) starter Jackson Hodges pitched three innings before being spelled in relief.
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