Tyler Pagliarulo's walk-off single stuns Selah; Moses Lake earns split

MOSES LAKE — If only the season could go on a few weeks more.

Since starting the summer 2-18, Moses Lake has played quality baseball down the stretch — with eight wins in its last 19 games — and finished its home schedule with a split against Selah.

“Really, the second half of the season we’ve shown to be a lot better than we were in the first half of the season,” head coach Robert Haensel said.

Tyler Pagliarulo’s walk-off single helped the Walleyes stun the Peppers in the opener 4-3. However, the momentum didn’t last and Selah used a seven-run third to win 14-0 in five innings.

Starting pitcher Zachary Valdez pitched six shutout innings and went the distance for the Walleyes in Game 1. Nursing a 3-0 lead in the seventh inning, three errors allowed Selah to tie the game. Pagliarulo’s RBI in the bottom of the seventh broke the tie.

“Putting a game together like that, you wish you had more season left because you get a glimpse of what maybe we could’ve been but we weren’t in the first part of the season,” Haensel said. “The kids have continued to improve and that’s all you can ask for. Despite having a record that’s a lot of losses as opposed to win, they come out every day and work hard.”

In Game 2, Selah sprayed 15 hits and led 9-0 after three innings.

The Peppers added two more runs in the fourth and three runs in the fifth inning.

Down to their last out and in a 14-0 hole in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Walleyes were able to load the bases but a pop out ended the game.

“Early on in the game it was walks and hit batsmen,” Haensel said. “You walk a guy, hit a guy, a guy gets a base hit, then you walk a guy, another guy gets a base hit, another guy gets a base hit; the runs add up fast. They came out and hit the ball. I think they had a little fire in their belly after we came out and beat them 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning.”

Moses Lake closes its season with a pair of games at Brewster on Thursday.