Othello softball corrals Mustangs, on to regionals

SELAH - The Huskies won two out of three ball games at the district tournament in Selah May 8 and will advance to the CWAC-GNL regional tournament in Spokane on Saturday.

Othello  beat East Valley 4-2 in a loser out game in the first round at district, lost game two to Selah 11-10, then came back to beat Prosser 8-4 to move on.

The Huskies led the Red Devils 3-0 after five innings. East Valley made things interesting with two runs in the top of the sixth to close the gap to 3-2. Othello added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning to stretch the score to 4-2. The Red Devils were unable to answer and dropped the game by two runs. Kim Bullis got the win for Othello going the distance on the bump, giving up two runs off three hits.

Selah 11

Othello  10

The Huskies fell behind 3-0 early to the Vikings, but overcame the deficit to take a 10-4 lead in the sixth inning. Selah answered back with six runs in the bottom of the frame to tie the game 10-10. Othello was held off the board in the top of the seventh and was hoping to keep the Vikings from scoring in their last at bat and force the game into extra innings.

But Selah refusing to lie down, pushed a run across the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh for the come from behind win and send the Huskies to a loser out game against the Mustangs.

Alyssa Martinez  had the hot bat for the Huskies going 3-for-3 with a double, and a home run. Kalinda Kosters had three hits in four at bats with a double and Holly Fleshman had two hits in four plate appearances with a double.

Othello 8

Prosser 4

The Huskies took a 5-0 lead in the top of the first. Prosser answered back with three in the Mustangs half of the inning to close the gap to 5-3. Othello got one back in the second to push the score to 6-3. Prosser brought a runner across the plate in the bottom of the third to get within two, 6-4. But the Huskies added two more in the top of the fourth, then held the Mustangs off the board the rest of the way to win the game 8-4.

Kosters led the offensive attack for Othello with two hits in four at bats and a home run. Bullis and Daisy Salgado were 2-for-5 at the plate. Bullis was also the winning pitcher of record.

"I thought we played very well, especially in the game against Selah. We hit well and fielded even better," coach Rudy Ochoa said. "We are very happy to be going on to regional in Spokane. I pretty sure we will be playing Cheney in the first round."

 The Huskies will need to be on their game as the first round is a loser out contest. The top four teams move on to state.

"It seems to me that we are starting to peek at the right time," Ochoa said. "The girls are in good spirits and get along with each other extremely well."