Walleyes eliminated from state

WALLA WALLA - The Moses Lake Walleyes were unable to advance in the American Legion AA state tournament after losing their first two games.

The first loss came on Friday as the Walleyes gave up a 2-run lead to Mt. Spokane, eventually losing, 7-2.

"[Mt. Spokane] made some plays, they executed some bunts that got them some guys on base and executed two big hits," head coach Quintz Whitaker said.

The Walleyes were unable to bounce back in their second game Sunday morning and dropped a shoot out to Lakeside Recovery, 15-2. Both losses frustrated coaches and players as the team gave up leads against both opponents.

This early exit from the state tournament marks the end of the Walleyes' season.

Mt. Spokane 7

Moses Lake 2

The Walleyes opened tournament play against the seventh seeded Mt. Spokane Wild. Despite only earning a seventh seed, the Wild were riding three straight wins in their district tournament and a 40-7 record overall.

Both teams remained scoreless until the fourth inning when the Walleyes were able to bring 2 runs across home plate due to sloppy play by Mt. Spokane. The Walleyes were able to load the bases after Kevin Cosper was able to draw a walk, Blake Springer was hit by a pith and Adrian Hernandez reached first base on an error.

The next batter, Derek Crum, was walked allowing Cosper to score the game's first run. Another error by the Wild allowed Springer to score from third base. However, Moses Lake was unable to do further damage and left three runners on base.

Mt. Spokane was able to get 1 run back in the bottom of the fourth when Nicholas Cain scored on a sacrifice fly by Jared Bell.

Mt. Spokane's vaunted offense showed up in the fifth inning. The Wild were able to push across 6 runs on 5 hits. Blake MacDonald hit a 3-run triple and Jakob Leavy hit a 3-run homer, bringing the final score to 7-2.

Despite the big inning, Whitaker didn't think pitcher Hunter Boyd struggled.

"We just got to be able to make some plays begind him defensively.

Lakeside Recovery 15

Moses Lake 12

The Walleyes lost a back and forth affair Sunday morning against Lakeside Recovery. The loss eliminated Moses Lake from tournament play.

Hunter Boyd started the day with a 3-run bomb in the first inning to give Moses Lake the early lead.

Lakeside roughed up Cosper with a 5-run second inning. The Walleyes were able to tie the game at 5 in the bottom of the second after a single by Nathan Ball and a fielder's choice by Jaime Vela scored two runners.

Lakeside tacked on another 3 runs in the fifth inning, but the Walleyes were able to respond with 3 of their own in the bottom of the sixth. The Walleyes staged a two-out rally beginning with a Vela RBI double. Tyson Karstetter tied the game at 8 with a 2-run double.

Moses Lake entered the final frame with the momentum, but quickly gave it away with sloppy defense.

Lakeside stormed back scoring 7 runs in the top of the seventh inning. With three more outs left between the end of their season and playing again on Monday the Walleyes staged a valiant comeback that fell just short.

"Defensively we didn't get it done, but we swung the bats a lot better then we had the day before," Whitaker said. "We want to have a chance to win the ball game in the last inning."

Carson Fisk cut into the deficit with a two-run double. Shortly after, Fisk scored on a Ball single. Ball was able to score on a wild pitch, bringing the score to 15-12.

With two outs and the bases loaded Moses Lake's season ended in heart breaking fashion as Jordan Lacelle struck out swinging to end the game.

Whitaker and the Walleyes will now look to improve this offseason.

"We're working on consistency and being able to make routin plays defensively," he said.