Chiefs drop non-league contests

Alan Dale/Columbia Basin Herald<br> Moses Lake's offense with players like Jessica McIntyre (7) is hoping to improve after dropping two non-league contests this weekend.

by Alan Dale<br
| March 22, 2010 9:00 PM

EAST WENATCHEE — Travelling to Eastmont High School on Saturday the Moses Lake Chiefs hoped to come out of its non-league matchups with Kentridge and Mt. Si hoping to gain some valuable experience into Big 9 play.

Despite dropping a 7-4 decision to Mount Si and a 10-6 contest to Kentridge, the Chiefs (2-2) come out of the day having a better feel of their team.

“Its nice to come out with wins but you need to stick to your game plan,” Moses Lake coach Dave Gregory said. “We had three pitchers we had to take a look at and we had to give some other players a chance to play so we could evaluate them.”

In the opener against Kentridge, Moses Lake trailed 5-0 before scoring four runs in the fourth inning to cut the gap against the state powers.

Kentridge built their lead back up to 10-4 but Moses Lake wouldn’t quit, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh before they had expired all three outs.

“I am really pleased with our hitting,” Gregory said. “We had them scared a little bit in the seventh but that was a lot of runs to make up.”

Moses Lake had nine hits, including Lacey Padilla’s home run and the 2-for-4 performance by Marina Rubio and Katie Martinez’s 2-for-3 game.

Moses Lake pitcher Karly Stoltman took the loss.

“She had seven walks and four of them came around,” Gregory said. “We have to throw strikes because we have a pretty good defense. You put runners on base against a great team and they will hurt you.”

Over the two games, Moses Lake threw 11 walks, with six of those batters scoring.

“If we don’t cut out our walks we are going to be in trouble,” Gregory said.

Against Mount Si, the Chiefs trailed 4-0 going into the fourth and cut the deficit in half.

But immediately after that, Mount Si scored three runs to counter the Chiefs push and led 7-2 after four.

“We just got back into the game and then made some mental errors which built the deficit back up,” Gregory said. “I was very impressed with the fact that we never gave up.”

Moses Lake scored two runs in the sixth inning but were unable to put a bigger dent in the deficit.

Padilla went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs, and Rubio went 2-for-4 with one run batted in.

“Now its time to step up and make the improvement we need to make since we start Big 9 play this week,” Gregory said. “I think we are coming close to what we need the team to do to be successful.”

Ephrata 12-5, Quincy 10-6

EPHRATA — Arch rivals Quincy and Ephrata battled in two tightly contested ballgames on Saturday and in the end each walked away with a win.

The Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) opponents split their doubleheader in Ephrata with the host Lady Tigers winning game one 12-10 before Quincy bounced back to secure the split with a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.

In the opener, Crystal Millard picked up the win for Ephrata while Maureen O’Callaghan led the offense with a 4-for-4 performance, including two doubles and a triple and two RBIs, while Skylar Lund chipped in with three hits.

“It was kind of a slow start for us and they came out with some big hits,” Ephrata coach JoElle Malone said. “We got going in the third inning when we batted around and had six hits. You can tell our girls felt energized after that inning and it carried over.”

Quincy was led by Adrianna Zamoran’s two doubles.

Kristina Allen scored four runs and contributed two RBIs.

In the second game Quincy pulled out the win behind a three-run sixth inning and being able to hold off a late Ephrata rally.

Quincy was led by six different hitters who all recorded one hit.

Zamoran recorded the win from the mound for the Lady Jacks.

Lund led Ephrata with two singles, a triple, and three RBIs.

“I would have like to have a sweep but the way we played I think they put in their best effort,” Malone said. “They kept up their spirits and almost came back in both games to win both. It shows the character that they have.”

Warden 6-6, Chelan 4-0

WARDEN — Behind the pitching performance of Randi Wright, the Warden Lady Cougars softball team swept visiting Chelan 6-4, 6-0 on Saturday.

Wright (2-1) recorded two complete game wins, with 16 strikeout against only one walk, while giving up four hits in each game.

“It was a good outing for her,” Warden coach Wes Richins. “She has really good location and her pitches were working well and breaking well. She really kept the Chelan batters off balance, especially in the second game.”

In the opener, Warden (2-1) was led by Bianca Hernandez who went 2-for-3 with one double, Tawnie Gonzales’ RBI double, and Amanda Elizalve’s run-scoring double.

Hernandez went 2-for-3 in the nightcap and Wright had three sacrifices over the course of two games to help her cause.

“It was a solid effort and it wasn’t just one player the entire team played a balanced game,” Richins said. “Everyone contributed in some way.”

Othello 11-19, Grandview 1-0

OTHELLO — The Lady Huskies of Othello were unpleasant hosts on Saturday as they took out a can of ‘win big’ in routing Grandview 11-1, 19-0 in a CWAC doubleheader.

Both games went only five innings with Eden Garza recording the win in the first game behind the offense of Alyssa Martinez and her 2-for-3 performance capped by two home runs, Kylee Mollotte who went 2-for-2 with two triples, and Miranda Martinez who went 2-for-3.

Garza aided her own cause, going 2-for-3 at the plate.

Mollotte, Miranda Martinez, and Alyssa Martinez’s all homered in the 19-0 nightcap as Othello recorded 10 hits and were helped by six Grandview errors.

Brenda Rodriguez recorded the win from the mound for the Lady Huskies.

Cle Elum 13-9, Royal 3-5

ROYAL — Two quick start by Cle Elum were enough for the visitors to sweep a doubleheader at Royal on Saturday.

Cle Elum won 13-3 and 9-5 against the host Lady Knights and in both contests were buoyed by big early innings to pull away for the wins.

Cle Elum used a six-run first inning in game one and scored six runs in the first three innings of the nightcap to build big enough cushions to secure the sweep.

Royal (0-2) committed eight errors over the two games and Cle Elum registered 23 hits to pull away for the sweep.