Rally followed by tough loss in softball split

MOSES LAKE — Despite mounting a furious rally in the opener of their doubleheader against Richland yesterday, the Moses Lake Chiefs softball team couldn’t quite carry it over to pull off the sweep.

A five-run sixth-inning rally gave Moses Lake a 6-4 win in the first game before Richland pulled off a comeback of its own, winning the nightcap 12-7 to split the bill at Larson Field.

In the opener, freshman pitcher Haylie VanLaethem found a way to keep the Richland hitters at bay as her team struggled at first to find its batting stroke.

Moses Lake (3-3) trailed 3-1 on two unearned runs heading into their half of the sixth when all of a sudden the Chiefs discovered their collective hitting eye.

The rally started on a Bailey Ritchie single and a sacrifice to move her to second.

A ground ball moved Ritchie to third leaving the Chiefs with two outs.

Tasha Gentry singled to bring in Ritchie, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

Karly Stoltman then singled and Katie Martinez walked to load the bases.

Kylie Martinez forced a walk to tie the score at 3-3 before Lacey Padilla’s two-run single gave the Chiefs a 5-3 lead.

Candace Vela singled in Padilla to finish out the rally.

In the top of the seventh, Richland tried to force the issue, bringing over a run and even had the tying runs in scoring position before a VanLaethem strike out and a spectacular, game-ending, diving catch by Ritchie at shortstop.

“I felt great about the rally,” Chiefs’ coach Dave Gregory said. “We’re going to go down fighting to the end. Especially to do that against their ace pitcher. We did a great job on her.”

 His young pitcher didn’t do too shabby either finishing with two strikeouts, no walks, six hits allowed, and one earned run in a complete game outing.

“I was really pleased with our little freshman pitcher,” Gregory said. “It comes down to keeping the ball down and not walking anyone, and you can do well. We can hit the ball well so if we pitch we have as good a chance as anyone. If our Haylie could do well we have a chance to win since we are going to score.”

The nightcap saw Moses Lake carry their winning mojo into the first inning as they jumped all over Richland for four runs and a 4-0 lead after each teams’ first at-bat.

But in the second inning Richland got even and then some, scoring eight to take the lead for good.

“It was bad luck,” Gregory said. “They got six hits from their first seven batters and they were all seeing-eye singles. Throw a walk or two in there and it escalates.”

Moses Lake begins Big 9 Cascade Division play on Thursday at Larson Field against Wenatchee for two games beginning with the first pitch at 4 p.m.

Cascade Leavenworth 19, Ephrata 1 (5 inn)

DRYDEN — A tough first inning of play put Ephrata behind the eight-ball right out of the gate and the Lady Tigers fell 19-1 at Cascade Leavenworth on Tuesday afternoon.

Ephrata (1-2) committed 11 first inning errors and committed six walks to fall behind 11-0.

“We struggled out of the gates but we did tighten up as the game got going,” Ephrata coach JoElle Malone said. “We made fewer errors and managed to make some nice plays in the field. We need to pick up the speed in which we play and practice. We played much slower today than when we practice so it seems we need to go at a faster speed to keep teams off-balance.”

Ephrata, which finished with 20 errors, scored its only run when Maureen O’Callaghan singled, stole second, and reached home on two passed balls.

ACH 15-15, Waterville 0-0

COULEE CITY — A nice start to the season was just what the Lady Warriors of Almira/Coulee-Hartline could ask for.

The Lady Warriors swept a doubleheader against Waterville on Tuesday, with back-to-back five-inning 15-0 wins.

In game one, Amanda Frank, Nikki Osborne, and Jordan Jones all homered to spark the ACH (2-0) offense.

Jones finished 3-for-3 and added a double to her resume, as did Miranda Porterfield, Kinzie Ashley, and Sarah Gloyn.

Madeline Isaak also went 3-for-3 in the game while Gloyn picked up the win from the mound.

ACH blew open the contest with five runs in the first, and eight runs in the second inning.

Osborne went 3-for-3 in the nightcap and pounded out two doubles and a triple on the way to five RBIs.

Isaak pitched for the win as ACH finished off their visitors with an eight-run third inning.

“This was a good opener for us,” ACH coach Nicole Evans said. “The girls hit the ball very well, ran the bases aggresively, and defensively were very sound.”