Oh, so sweet, Chiefs rally to stay alive

Alan Dale/Columbia Basin Herald<br> Moses Lake's Cameron Alvarado makes a play during the Chiefs' 10-9 tiebreaker win on Friday.

by Alan Dale<br
| May 10, 2010 9:00 PM

MOSES LAKE — It was over. Plain and simple.

A five-run A.C. Davis fourth inning appeared to put the Moses Lake Chiefs baseball team in a emotionally down hole and even worse a 7-1 deficit in the teams’ Big 9 tiebreaker game at Big Bend Community College on Friday.

Yet, able to dig deep, the Chiefs (9-11) found a way to answer Davis’ charge and eventually pull out a dramatic 10-9 win in eight innings to advance in the Big 9 playoffs.

With the win Moses Lake is the Columbia Division’s No. 4 seed and will play at Kamiakin tomorrow at 4 p.m. in a loser-out game.

“I thought after going down in the fourth the kids had lost a lot out of their sails,” Moses Lake coach Ed McNamara said. “They came in pretty bummed. I told them that we always had a chance and there was a lot of game left.”

The players proved McNamara right, scoring five runs themselves in the bottom half of the fourth, including three with two outs.

Their rally started when Dylan Signorelli walked, Tanner Lowry singled, and Matt Noyola was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Branden Moreno walked to score Signorelli, Garrett Greninger then singled and Lowry and Noyola came across home plate.

Finally Nick Laszlo singled to bring in Moreno and Greninger and the score was 7-6.

The Chiefs then took their first lead in the next inning with two runs but fell behind soon after when Davis (10-11) scored two runs themselves in the top of the seventh for a 9-8 lead.

However Cameron Alvarado singled and then two outs later Greninger would single setting up the first Moses Lake moment of heroics.

Kody Samuels singled to bring in Alvarado and the game was tied 9-9 and heading into extra innings.

After getting Davis out without any damage done in the top of the eighth the Chiefs decided enough was enough.

With one out Signorelli walked and moved to third on a Lowry single.

Alvarado was intentionally walked to load the bases setting up Noyola’s next at bat.

Noyola hit a potential double-play grounder to the Davis second baseman who rushed the throw and the subsequent error allowed Signorelli to score and secure the Chiefs win.

Lowry finished 3-for-5, Noyola 2-for-4, and Greninger also went 2-for-4.