Moses Lake eliminated in state quarterfinals

YAKIMA - After struggling the entire afternoon, Blake Springer stepped into the batter's box in the eighth inning with the game-winning run on second base.

Springer drove a single into right field that scored Kevin Cosper and gave Moses Lake a 3-2 win over Union in the first round of the 4A State Baseball Tournament at Yakima County Stadium.

The Chiefs' celebration could be heard from across the diamond.

"Struggling after three at bats and then doing that just feels so good," Springer said. "Pretty emotional because I've never been in here before. I just told everybody, 'One more.' They couldn't put me down so it's OK."

However, Moses Lake suffered a letdown in its quarterfinal game against Wenatchee.

The Chiefs, visibly spent after their extra inning game against the Titans, committed five errors in a 13-3 loss against the Panthers.

The Big Nine rivals split the previous four meetings, with Moses Lake rallying from a three-run deficit to win the district championship against Wenatchee, 6-5, on May 17.

Game 1

Union took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Jake Hawken was able to slap an RBI single past the Moses Lake defense.

The Chiefs answered with two runs in the bottom of the first after Brett Moser was able to reach on an error by Brady Whalen.

A Matt Olstgead balk put Moser in scoring position and three straight singles by Erick Huberdeau, Cole Raymond and Drew Loera gave the Chiefs a 2-1 lead after one inning.

From that point, the scoring came to a screeching halt.

Hunter Boyd settled down and didn't allow another run until the fifth inning when a passed ball allowed Union to knot the score at 2-2.

Boyd went the full eight innings, striking out seven.

Moses Lake was unable to take advantage of several opportunities and the game entered extra innings.

Loera slapped a leadoff single in the eighth and was replaced by pinch runner Kevin Cosper. After Jake Hawken took the mound for Union, a passed ball allowed Cosper to reach second and Springer's single sent the Chiefs into the quarterfinals.

"Came up and did his job," head coach Quintz Whitaker said. "He's as steady as they come. That's the thing, this whole group of seniors are so steady and so headsy with baseball. We're going to definitely miss them moving on."

Game 2

With less than an hour of rest after a draining eight inning game against the Titans, Moses Lake looked shaky early on against Wenatchee and was unable to recover.

Chase Tunstall allowed five straight singles to start the game and the Chiefs were staring at a 4-0 deficit after one inning.

Tunstall was chased after one inning and replaced by Tyson Karstetter.

"They're a good team," Whitaker said. "They were going to come out swinging the bats. They've seen him three times now on the year and just made the adjustments they needed to and were able to get to him early."

The Panthers led by as many as six runs before Moses Lake was able to plate two in the third inning.

Loera ripped an RBI double that was followed by an RBI single by Springer.

But the Panthers wouldn't be denied as Wenatchee answered with three more runs in the bottom of the third to push its lead to 9-2.

Loera continued his big day with an RBI single in the fourth that drew Moses Lake within six runs.

Wenatchee tacked on four more runs in the fifth inning to secure the 13-3 win and a date with South Kitsap in the state semifinals.

Moses Lake finished its 2014 campaign among the best eight teams in Washington.

This year saw the Chiefs win the CBBN League Championship, the 4A District 6 Championship, record a 15-game win streak and be ranked as high as No. 2 in the state according to the Washington Baseball Poll.

"Thanks to the seniors," Whitaker said. "They were able to again set the example for us. We had some guys that had not had a ton of varsity experience, but they bought in to what we were selling and they did a great job this year carrying us.