Warden rallies from 4-1 deficit to claim district title

MOSES LAKE — It’s difficult to pinpoint a single play as the deciding factor in a game.

However, Warden starting pitcher Tyson Yamane knew he was at a critical juncture when Timbo Taylor — who was already 2-for-2 — came up with runners on the corners and two outs in the fourth inning.

Brewster held a 4-3 lead and was looking for more.

Yamane elected to pitch to Taylor after a brief conference on the mound and induced a fly-out to right field, ending the threat.

“We did a little meeting and I was just wondering if we should put him (Taylor) on or not, load the bases and get forces all the way around,” Yamane said. “He (head coach Dan Caballero) had the confidence in me to go after him and get the out and that made all the difference in the world.”

Warden took the lead for good in the fifth inning before Zach Askin came in to close the seventh. Askin gave up one hit to Taylor, but kept the drama to minimum as Warden captured the District 6 2B Baseball Championship 6-4.

“It feels pretty good considering this has been our goal all year is to keep going and to keep playing throughout the whole year and go to regionals and go to state and win state,” said Aksin, who had two RBI and two runs scored to go along with his inning of relief. “We’re setting goals one at a time and hopefully we make it all the way.”

It was all Brewster early as back-to-back singles by Timbo Taylor and Joe Taylor put the bears ahead 1-0 in the first inning. Warden was able to even the game on a long RBI single by Guillermo Gonzalez.

Warden’s punch was met by Brewster’s counter-punch — a bloop single by Timbo Taylor put runners on the corners before the Bears executed a double steal to regain the lead 2-1.

Raul Olvera and Corey Jarrell added RBI singles, pushing Brewster’s lead to 4-1.

Warden didn’t blink, due in large part to the performance of Askin.

Askin drove in Yamane on a triple and later scored on a throwing error to third base, cutting the deficit to one run.

“Zach’s huge and he’s been like that for us,” Caballero said. “I always told him, I said, ‘All you’ve to do to is put the ball in play and your wheels give defenses fits,’ and he’s so smart on the bases and dangerous that I know once he gets on the chances of him scoring are pretty high.”

Askin showed off his signature speed in the fifth inning with an infeld single and stolen base. With Askin at second base, JR Delgado hit a looping RBI double to right field that tied the game 4-4.

Drake Hansen followed with his own RBI single to right field, giving Warden a 5-4 lead. Warden added one insurance run in the sixth inning on a high bloop RBI single by Askin that fell in front of Brewster’s right fielder.

Askin worked a scoreless seventh, striking out two batters in the process.

“Zach’s a flamethrower,” Yamane said. “People see me and then they see him, they don’t know what hit them. He’s able to throw heat and then he has that dirty slider that comes in at about 75 (miles per hour) and so you never know what he’s going to throw. He mixes it up a lot and he can blow you out of the water and that’s what you saw there.”

Warden will now face Toledo in the first round of the state tournament May 21, 1 p.m., at Dan White Field in East Wenatchee. The Indians were 18-6 overall and finished fourth in the Southwest District 4 Tournament.

Should Warden win its first-round game, it will play the winner of Colfax and Okanogan that same day for a spot in the semifinals.

“This is where we want to be,” Caballero said. “We play to win so we’ll go see what we can do in Wenatchee and keep playing.”