Dunes qualify for Babe Ruth U-13 state finals

ELLENSBURG - The Moses Lake Dunes are heading to the U-13 Babe Ruth State Tournament in Poulsbo after capturing thier district championship this past weekend in Ellensburg.

Sunday, they defeated Ellensburg 13-3 in five innings to clinch the title and head to state which begins Tuesday and runs through July. 23.

To get to the finals, the Dunes rolled through pool play.

The Dunes (17-14) won all five of their games at the tournament in various ways.

They opened up with a 14-7 win over Ellensburg behind Desi Ortega's 3-for-4 day and the pitching of Hakeem Olaniyan, who went 5.2 innings and allowed no earned runs to earn the win.

After that, the Dunes rolled past Warden 39-16 in five innings.

Cameron Varney, Xavier Rodriguez, Zach Askin, Trevor Garry, Maceyn Cerrillo, Cesar Sandoval, Micah Sanchez, Derek Martinez, Desi Ortega and Olaniyan all had at least two hits apiece to spur on the Dunes' offensive onslaught.

"This game got out of hand early," Dunes coach Jesse Heaverlo said. "A credit goes to our opponent for keeping their heads up and competing to the final out but we just hit the ball and took advantage of just about all of their mistakes."

Next came pulsating 16-13 and 16-15 wins over Ephrata and Wenatchee respectively.

Against Ephrata, the win gave the Dunes a spot in the district title game as Torres, Ortega, Olaniyan, Sanchez, and Sandoval all had two hits.

"The team really battled for this win," Heaverlo said. " We fell behind early, but scored 12 runs with two outs and nobody on in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach.  It was the best rally we've had all year from a five-plus run deficit.  The kids really believed we could get it done and the win clinched a spot in the district championship game.  Really proud of the fight that was showed after a sloppy start to this game."

They then beat Wenatchee to finish off pool play.

Torres it a bases clearing walk-off triple in the bottom of the eighth to wrap up an unblemished pool play performance for the team.

"This game went back and forth and was really tough on my ticker," Heaverlo said. "We'd already clinched a championship birth so although I was looking ahead a bit, making sure we'd be set up for that game, the kids were all about going undefeated this weekend.  A credit to them."

Garry, Rodriguez, Cerrillo, Ortega, and Sandoval had two hits each.

In what turned out to be an anticlimatic final game against the host Ellensburg team, the Dunes rolled behind Olaniyan's five innings of strong pitching to win the title.

Derek Matinez, Askin, Ortega and Olaniyan all had two hits in the win.

"This may have been our most complete game this year to date, especially considering the stakes," Heaverlo said. "Hakeem was just a strike throwing machine all tourney and really separated himself from every other pitcher on any team this weekend.  Offensively, well we scored 98 runs in five games so I'd say we are seeing the ball well.  As every other team still playing at this point in the summer we have some things to clean up a bit prior to State but if we continue to show a consistent level of positive attitude and prideful effort we will be ready to compete no matter who is in the dugout across from us. 

"These boys genuinely enjoy playing with and for each other so as a coach I'm excited for the rest of the season."