Big fifth inning propels Cougars' title sweep
Jacob Yamane helped a key fifth-inning rally along for the Warden Cougars in their game one 10-7 win over Kittitals on Saturday. The victory propelled them to a doubleheader sweep and the North Central Washington 2B South tittle
WARDEN - Trailing 7-5 going into the fifth inning of their first game of two on Saturday against Kittitas, the Warden Cougars understood the magnitude of the moment.
Then their bats felt it too.
Using a four-run explosion to regain the lead against the Coyotes, the Cougars would use that rally to win 10-7 and then take what would ultimately be the North Central Washington 2B South league title with a 4-2 win in the nightcap.
Kittitas beat Warden earlier last week to force a must win-doubleheader for the Cougars who duly delivered.
"Overall it was a great comeback win for us," Warden head coach Dan Caballero said. "Marcelo Pruneda pitched well and our defense got us out of some tough jams. Ty Jesse came up big for us in center running down some tough fly balls with his speed."
Offensively, the Cougars got 11 hits while overcoming 16 Coyotes base knocks.
Garritt Marks, Cruz Pruneda, Jacob Yamane, and Jesse all had two hits in the game.
The eventual league title game saw both teams' pitching buckle down as the Cougars held the Kittitas bats in check.
Derek Pruneda went 2-for-3 with a home run while Yamane went 3-for-4 and was the winning pitcher.
"This game was a real pitchers' duel," Caballero said. "Jacob came out and really did a great job for us on the bump. We had an error in the outfield with two outs that gave them their two runs but other than that Jacob was in control the whole game."
The champs also have found ways to do the little things right as well.
"Again I can't stress how great our defense played also," Caballero said. "We are really playing well as a team and have really picked each other up in situations that players have to step up in."
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