Young guns key Chiefs playoff win
Young gungs key Chiefs playoff win
MOSES LAKE - From watching Moses Lake Chiefs freshmen Tressa Radach and Hailee Bishop and it would be hard for one to not see both young softball players are definitely dialed in.
Yesterday at Larson Field in the Chiefs' Columbia Basin Big 9 Loser Out District playoff game, the one number the visiting Eisenhower Cadets would be dialing was 911.
That would surely be the case after Radach belted two home runs and Bishop added a round tripper of her own as the two would combine for six RBIs in a 9-3 Chiefs victory to keep their season alive.
Moses Lake (13-8) play Richland tomorrow at noon and could play as many as three games with the hope of winning one to advance to next week's Regionals.
For the moment, these Chiefs would have not one, but two youngsters lead them.
"Its definitely great to have them," Chiefs senior first baseman Tasha Gentry said. "We have Tressa playing well behind the plate and Hailee playing awesome in the field. They are both leading our home run race too so its nice to have the two freshmen step up and do that."
Radach got things going in the first inning as she ripped a two-run shot to give Moses Lake a 2-0 lead. Starting pitcher Haylie VanLaethem then tripled and came in to score on Alex Jones' single for a 3-0 lead after their first at bat had ended.
In the next inning, it was Bishop's turn to bring two in on a fence clearing blast, as she and Katie Martinez ?- who reached base on an error - trotted home.
Radach then followed up her teammate's bomb with one of her own and Moses Lake led 6-0.
The freshman catcher Radach couldn't recall the pitches she was thrown.
"I don't really remember the pitches, I just hit," Radach admitted.
She also explained her philosophy on how to contribute as one of the two youngest starters for the Chiefs.
"'My approach is to have fun because this team is like my second family and we need to go out there, win, and do our best," Radach said. "I take this very seriously and so does Hailee. It is a privlege to play with the older kids. It is an honor to be with them, get to know them, and play at the highest level with them."
Moses Lake got another run across in the third inning when Martinez doubled and Bishop singled her across home plate to give the freshmen six combined RBI on the day.
"My key hitters Cassandra Guerrero, Tasha, and Alex Jones all get their hits and with the young ones I can take what I can get," Moses Lake head coach Dave Gregory said. "But those two have been hitting the ball well all year. They both just have great bat speed and have been taught well. They carried us and they picked it up today when we needed them to step up. Six RBIs for a couple of young kids in a playoff game is pretty impressive."
The Chiefs scoring wrapped up in the fourth when Radach reached on an error and Gentry doubled her home. Two outs later Holly Perry singled in Gentry to make the score 9-0.
From there the team rode the stellar pitching of VanLaethem.
The sophomore struck out 10 and walked no Cadets as her new look screwball shone bright on a sunny day.
"She pitched a great game and it was the best she ever pitched," Gregory said. "I asked her about her game and she said she was feeling good and that it was warmer weather-wise. She threw over 100 pitches and was getting tired. and still got it done."
Eisenhower got its only runs off of a three-run homer in the fifth.
"It wasn't a bad pitch the girl just got lucky on a high outside pitch," Gregory said. "She poked her bat out and it went over the fence. You got to give the batter credit. We talked to Haylie to just keep throwing hard until she ran out of gas. She then got the next three batters, bang-bang- bang."
VanLaethem then wrapped up the game by striking out the side in the Eisenhower seventh.
"Her pitches looked great and Haylie pitched an awesome game," Radach said. "She had a strong game and I am proud of her. The pitches were rising more and that made the batters strike out. She had more heat today."
Radach and Bishop each finished 3-for-4 at the plate as did VanLaethem while Martinez ended up 2-for-3,
So on a day the Chiefs kept their season going the two young Moses Lake players announced their arrival.
"They are definitely adjusted to varsity ball," Gentry said, "The seniors have taken them under our wing and they have come up and, yes, made some freshmen mistakes, but overall you couldn't guess that they were freshmen out there. They are taking a value to this role. They came up at tryouts and have played like they wanted it ever since. They both have mad love for softball and have a lot of respect for the coaches and the captains."
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