RiverDogs, Desert Dogs, drop Classic title games

EPHRATA - They still find themselves trying to find their identity in many ways.

The Columbia Basin RiverDogs baseball team and its junior Desert Dogs version played co-host to the Senior and Junior Division tournaments respectively of the High Desert Baseball Classic this past weekend and saw themselves both make the title games.

On Sunday, the RiverDogs fell short of their title aspirations with a 10-1 loss to the Walla Walla Bears at Johnson-O'Brien Stadium and the Desert Dogs also took one on the chin, losing 8-0 to the Diamond Jaxx at Big Bend Community College.

RiverDogs manager Randy Boruff battled it out with the senior team, seeing them go 4-1 during the four day tournament, and upping their record to 19-13.

"We played really well on Saturday but it's all about our starting pitching,"Boruff said. "When we get good starting pitching we play well and if we don't we lose. We played with no intensity, fell behind early, and laid an egg. There is no easier way to describe it."

The RiverDogs were held to two hits in the title game loss, with Josh Snider (Ephrata High School) and Conor Hamilton (Othello HS) getting the only two hits for the club.

Josh Snider (Ephrata), Luke Valdez (Moses Lake HS), and Seth Darling (Cle Elum) all pitched but no one could slow down the 12-hit Bears attack.

On the previous day, the RiverDogs nipped Laces Blue, 5-3 in the semifinal.

Stockton Taylor (Brewster) pitched six innings for the win while Naches Valley's Cody Johns earned the save.

The RiverDogs built a 5-1 lead and held off a late Laces charge in the bottom of the seventh to earn the win.

Taylor, Cole Gillman (Naches Valley) and Matt Benner (Big Bend CC) all went 2-for-3 to pace the RiverDogs.

Boruff's crew won their quarterfinal game earlier that day, with a 4-2 win over the Kent Bulldogs.

Davis Engel (Skagit Valley CC) pitched a complete game four-hitter for the win as his team chipped away at the Kent pitching, scoring two runs in the fourth inning and one more in each of their last two team at-bats.

Snider and Gilman went 2-for-3 and Jacob Yamane (Warden) hit a two-run double.

"On Saturday we played inspired and you could tell that the kids, who had been practicing hard, were coming around." Boruff said. "Stockton Taylor handcuffed the Laces who were unbeaten before then, Our starting pitching was the key this weekend."

The RiverDogs finished 2-1 in pool play after a split on Thursday, with a 9-2 win over the Kitsap Americans on Friday.

Mitch Yada (Moses Lake) continued his strong bounce back from an ankle injury with a two-hit performance as he was backed by an 11-hit barrage.

Cameron Alvarado (Moses Lake) hit a grand slam in the sixth inning and Taylor went 3-for-4 to lead the way. Chris Walker (Naches Valley) finished 2-for-3 and Yamane went 2-for-4.

As for the Desert Dogs, they beat the Cascade Kodiaks 14-0 on Friday in pool play at BBCC and lost 13-3 to the Diamond Jaxx (Puyallup).

In their win, Devin Juarez (Moses Lake) pitched a five-inning, no hitter, striking out four along the way. He also went 2-for-4 at the plate, while his Chiefs teammate Nick Dodds finished 3-for-3 with four RBI.

In the loss against Diamond Jaxx, Bryce Beavers (Ephrata) went 3-for-3 with a home run.

On Saturday, the Desert Dogs (18-8) beat Laces Blue 2-0 behind a six-hit shutout effort by Amando DeLeon (Othello) and they beat them again 6-0 in the Junior Division semifinal.

No statistics were available from the title game.

"I think we're discovering that we have a lot of different pitchers," Boruff said. "Once we settle in on a four-man rotation and who are seventh, eighth, and ninth guys it will make a difference. We had one game and that was in the championship and lost the other to the same team, 3-2. There was a lot of improvement from the weekend before.

"We'll tell you more after we play in a wood bat tournament next week in Walla Walla," Boruff said. "I think we just laid and egg and it was an aberration what happened today."