Marnie Skinner, big second inning propel Chiefs past Pirates

MOSES LAKE — Give Moses Lake an inch and it will take a mile.

With a chance to retire the side in the second inning, Davis misplayed a routine ground ball to the shortstop which brought up the top of Moses Lake’s order.

The extra at bat proved fortuitous as Mikaela Francisco began the two-out rally with a RBI single, driving in Kaylee Fowler-Valdez. The Chiefs would go on to score eight runs with two outs in the second inning and cruised 16-0.

“You hit the ball hard on the ground and something’s going to happen,” head coach Dave Gregory said. “Drop a fly ball; anything can happen. I was impressed with the kids on that one.”

Despite the lopsided score, it took some time for the Chiefs to adjust to the velocity of Davis’ freshman pitcher Taylor Yates. Yates escaped the first inning with minimal damage before Davis unraveled in the second and third.

“They’re a lot better team this year than they have been,” Gregory said. “The pitcher’s around the plate, she’s throwing strikes. They just can’t handle Skinner.”

The Pirates indeed had trouble with Skinner.

Moses Lake’s ace allow two hits, struck out 14 and faced 17 batters. Skinner struck out of the side in every inning but the third.

“She is really great at hitting her spots and that’s always really helpful as a pitcher,” said Francisco, who catches for Skinner. “And it’s really fun because she has a lot of different pitches that we can throw and try and that’s just a good time for me.”

Skinner smacked a RBI single in the first inning before the hit parade began in the second and third.

Francisco’s RBI single in the second inning gave way to another RBI single by Tia Radach. After Skinner walked to load the bases, Brooke Richardson was plunked in the helmet.

Ahead 4-0 with the bases loaded, a bloop single into right field by Peyton Ries cleared the bases.

Ries later scored on an error and Nikea Holman ended the flurry with a RBI single of her own.

“It just kind of motivates us to do more once we see that one person can do it,” Francisco said. “Then it kind of helps everyone to be able to.”

Moses Lake began the third inning with RBI singles by Radach and Ries. Two Davis errors scored a pair of runs before Sierra Perales’ RBI single swelled the lead t0 14-0.

Francisco belted a two-run double for the final runs of the game.

Warden sweeps Royal

ROYAL CITY — Behind solid outings from Aaliyah Enriquez and Jizelle Pruneda, Warden swept Royal by scores of 17-2 and 18-4.

Enriquez and Pruneda combined to allow 10 hits. Also, Enriquez struck out 10 and was 4-for-7 from the plate with a home run.

Brenna Whitney led the charge for the Cougars in Game 1 with a grand slam in the first inning. Warden would go on to lead 9-0 after the opening frame.

The second game was tight for an instant before Warden exploded for eight runs in the second inning and nine runs in the sixth inning.

“I was proud of the way we swung the bat today,” head coach Wes Richins said. “We hit the ball pretty hard today.”

McDarra VonStein was bright spot for the Knights, finishing with five hits.

Amanda Contreras was 5-for-6, Bailey Whitney smacked a double and a triple and Julianna Pruneda recorded three hits.

Ephrata settles for split with Prosser

EPHRATA — Ephrata routed Prosser in the opener 13-1 before dropping the nightcap 8-7.

The Tigers scored seven runs in the first inning of Game 1. Morgan Williams and Mikayla Wood drove in three runs each.

Wood allowed two hits and struck out three.

Ephrata scored five runs in the first inning of Game 2 before the offense sputtered.

The Tigers tacked on two runs in the third inning, however, the Mustangs were able to score two runs each in the sixth and seven inning to win.

Wood, Williams and Maggie Buchert had one RBI each.