Chiefs split Big 9 marathon

MOSES LAKE — Dave Gregory has been coaching softball for 27 years and thought he’d seen it all.

Until last night.

The Moses Lake Chiefs coach watched his team wrap up a two-game split with Wenatchee after nearly six hours of action.

Moses Lake won the nightcap 13-12 after losing the opener 18-16.

“The weather had a little bit to do with it, we went through three pitchers each in both games and there were a lot of walks,” Gregory said. “Wenatchee hits the ball well and we have been hitting the ball well all year. It was just unbelievable.”

In game one, Wenatchee took an early 5-0 lead after their first at-bats before Moses Lake (4-4, 1-1) came back to cut it to 7-4 after two innings.

Moses Lake would then score six runs in the fourth to take a 13-9 lead.

“It was great since we did the same thing to them as they did to us in the first inning,” Gregory said. “But then we didn’t score in the fifth and they got three and they were back in the game. It killed our momentum. We let up a little bit.”

Wenatchee took the lead for good in the sixth inning by scoring three to go up 15-13.

Moses Lake rallied to lead 16-15 after six innings but the Panthers wouldn’t quit and came back to take the lead and the win.

“I don’t know what to say,” Gregory said. “The only inning we really didn’t score in was in the seventh. I really thought we were going to win.”

Lacey Padilla finished 4-for-5 with a double and three runs scored, Katie Martinez went 4-for-5 with a triple, three runs scored and two RBIs, Candace Vela went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs, and Jessica McIntyre ended up 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

Overall Moses Lake recorded 21 hits, while Wenatchee ended up with 20.

In the first inning Wenatchee jumped to an early lead again scoring three to start off the game.

But the Chiefs rallied to take a 4-3 lead in their half of the second inning.

In the third inning, Wenatchee took the lead back, if only temporarily with two runs, but the Chiefs scored five of their own to lead 9-5.

Moses Lake’s Holly Perry hit a solo home run during the inning.

“It was definitely driving me crazy,” Gregory said. “Then the flood gates opened again.”

The Panthers wouldn’t quit and took a 11-9 with six runs on four walks and three hits in the top of the fourth inning.

Wenatchee added a run in the fifth before Moses Lake finally got cracking again, scoring three to tie the game at 12-12 going into the sixth inning.

No one scored in the sixth inning so both teams headed into the seventh five hours after the doubleheader’s first pitch.

Moses Lake’s Hayley Van Laethem pitched a shutout seventh inning setting the stage for her team’s win.

Tasha Gentry got hit by a pitch and went to second on a Martinez single, before getting to third base on Kylie Martinez’s single.

“We have bases loaded with nobody out if we don’t win this I am going to retire,” Gregory said.

Padilla then came to the plate against a drawn-in infield and crushed a deep single for the winning base-knock.

“I was talking to the Wenatchee the coach and asked him if he wanted to go into the extra innings and he said no,” Gregory said. “It was good for our team but all of us wanted to go home. It was good for both clubs.”

Moses Lake ended up with another 18 hits for 39 on the entire day.

Over the doubleheader, Wenatchee got the lead off runner on in 13 consecutive innings until the top of seventh of the nightcap.

“I’m really emotionally tired,” Gregory said. “It was really crazy.”

Warden 25, Soap Lake 0

SOAP LAKE — Despite recording only seven hits, the Warden Lady Cougars took advantage of multiple Soap Lake errors and walks to cruise to a 25-0 victory yesterday.

The game, called after three-innings, was highlighted by the pitching debut of Warden’s Iris Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, a freshman, pitched three no-hit innings, allowing only one walk in earning the win.

Offensively the squad pounded out six doubles including two by Randi Wright who went 2-for-3 and knocked in five RBIs.

Warden was aided by 12 walks, four hit batsmen, and five errors.

“We hit their pitchers pretty hard,” Warden coach Wes Richins said.  “We are trying to get ready for league play and when we got something to hit we managed to hit the ball really well.”

Bianca Hernandez,  Connie Gonsalez, Cassandra Platas, and Narcy Guerra each recorded a double in the Warden (3-1) win.

“We have a real tough opponent on Saturday in Cle Elum so we will have to make some adjustments,” Richins said. “Hopefully we can go do that and be ready for the game. We wanted to play well against Soap Lake since they’ll be in our league next year and we did.”