Sun Devils struggle against DeSales, drop two

WALLA WALLA - The best thing about dropping two games in Walla Walla on Saturday was that the defeats would not affect the Moses Lake Sun Devils in American Legion league play.

Still defeats never feel good and the Sun Devils fell in two tough decisions against DeSales, losing 10-5 and 2-1.

"We have a week off and hopefully we can some more rest and play some better baseball," Sun Devils head coach Mark Rust said.

In the first game Chase Tunstall started on the mound and went five innings.

"He didn't pitch that bad but they put a lot of hits together and we couldn't get the knee-high strike," Rust said. "We put the ball over the plate more. They took advantage of it by putting the bat on the ball."

Drew Loera and Blake Springer each had an RBI single while the team could only muster three hits.

"We pressed when we were behind and weren't very selective at the plate when we fell behind," Rust said.

The defense and pitching did improve in game two but key walks and some hit DeSales batters undermined the solid effort of Spencer Street.

The Sun Devil went six innings and allowed only two earned runs and five hits.

Again the offense was held in check to three hits as the Sun Devils dropped to 7-7 overall.

"We are not swinging at very good pitches and trying to press too much at the plate," Rust said. "We had some low, slow swings trying to put the ball out of the ballpark."

The Sun Devils pick up play on June 28 and play host to West Valley for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.