Ephrata wins crucial CWAC game at Othello

OTHELLO — The final Central Washington Athletic Conference baseball standings won’t be decided until the final out is recorded in the final game Saturday afternoon.

Entering Tuesday’s slate, one win separated third from sixth place. However, Ephrata provided some clarity with an 8-2 road win against Othello, breaking a tie in the standings between the two teams.

“For us, it was a big deal to come back in and try and get them at their place,” Ephrata head coach Jason Laugen said. “That puts us a game ahead of them with two games left to go. We’ve got Quincy this weekend and they’ve got Ellensburg so still anything can happen. The nice is is that puts us securely into districts and so we can into Quincy and play loose and not be real tight.”

Othello (9-7, 10-8) was the aggressor a week ago in Ephrata (10-6, 11-7), scoring five runs in the sixth inning to extend a 3-2 lead. With that information resting in the back of their minds, the Tigers weren’t content with their own 3-2 lead after five innings on Tuesday.

In the sixth inning, Zac Berryman hit a would-be two-run double except it only counted for one as a runner was called out for failing to touch home plate.

No matter.

Ethan Etter doubled home one more run in the sixth, stretching Ephrata’s lead to 5-2. After Bryce Davis scored on a fielder’s choice in the seventh inning, Joey Mihelich hit a two-run single for some extra insurance runs.

“Even though you’re ahead, you can’t ... It’s never enough,” Gunnar Falstad said. “You keep playing until the game’s over. That’s how it is.”

A six-run lead was more than enough for Travis Robertson, who allowed zero runs in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Robertson kept Othello’s hitters off-balance with his molasses-like pitch. Not used to a ball traveling glacially toward the plate, several fly outs and weak grounders dotted the final three innings when the Huskies were up to bat.

“When a pitcher comes in and throws that slow the ball looks like a beach ball coming in,” Laugen said. “And it’s one of those things that it’s so hard to stay back and wait on the pitch. You’re always out front and you’re popping things up.”

Othello took an 1-0 lead in the first inning behind back-to-back doubles from Alix Garcia and Jay Rodriguez. From that point, Falstad was able to settle down and pitch three scoreless innings before being relieved in the fifth.

“You really just can’t let it get to you,” he said. “They hit the ball. No one’s perfect so you really just got to let it go, just keep throwing.”

Othello got one run back in the fifth inning when Robertson committed a bases-loaded walk.

With Quincy’s 11-1 win over Grandview, the Jacks and the Tigers enter a pair of rivalry games Saturday with identical 10-6 league records. Two wins for either team clinches no lower than a No. 4 seed into the district tournament and a home playoff game. A split? Things will get wonky.

“It is a rivalry and we want to win and we better win that game, but it’s something that’s pretty important for us right now,” Laugen said.

Quincy 11, Grandview 1

QUINCY — Quincy kept pace in the CWAC with an 11-1 rout of Grandview.

“Big win for us,” head coach Andy Harris said. “We needed to get this one.”

Kaeden Murphy had two hits and Levi Garrison singled home a run for the Jacks (10-6, 11-7).

Quincy hosts a doubleheader with Ephrata on Saturday. Both teams have identical league records.

Soap Lake locks down district berth

SOAP LAKE — Soap Lake picked up a pair of timely wins against White Swan 11-1 and 14-1.

The second game was called after four innings due to darkness. The two wins helped Soap Lake clinch a district tournament berth since Riverside Christian will drop down to its Class 1B tournament after the regular season.

“We were a lot more aggressive, both at the plate and in the base paths,” head coach Austin Chamberlin said.

Seth Holden struck out 11 batters in Game 1 and Brayden Winters struck out 10 in Game 2.

Holden was a combined 6-for-7 on the day.

Cashmere 11, Warden 1

CASHMERE — Warden struggled on the road against a quality Class 1A Cashmere team and lost 11-1.

Warden travels to Riverside Christian Friday with a chance to lock up the Central Washington 2B South league championship and a No. 1 district seed.