Walleyes beat Jr. Beetles in eight innings
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldMoses Lake's Blake Pugh turns on a fastball during his at-bat during the first game of Thursday's doubleheader against Yakima. The Walleyes won in extra innings.
Rodney Harwiid/Columbia Basin Herald Walleyes shortstop Sawyer Jenks makes the throw to third base during the first game of Thursday's doubleheader against the Yakima Junior Beetles at Larson Playfield.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldMoses Lake Walleyes runner Radley Greer (13) gets in under the tag of Yakima's Geoff Edgar during the first game of Thursdeay's doubleheader at Larson Playfield. The Walleyes won the opener in estra innings.
MOSES LAKE — You don’t always know what you’re going to get with a bunch of young guys. But the Moses Lake Walleyes showed a little moxy when it mattered, winning the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader 6-5 in extra innings in 17U action against Yakima.
Tre Spencer hit a flare to right-center to lead off the eighth inning and turned it into a double when it landed between the hard charging right fielder and second baseman going out. He moved over to third base as the Junior Beetles tried to put a halt to his aggressive base running and threw it into left field trying to get him at second. Zander Holman lined to center field and Spencer scored the winning run when Beetles center fielder Tom Martinez mishandled the ball.
The Walleyes (7-21) ended three innings with bases loaded, but finally caught a break in the eighth with the combination of Spencer’s base running and Holman’s drive deep enough to score the run.
“We’ll take a win anyway we can. We’re definitely playing much better all the way around and I thought tonight was a carryover from the tournament we played last weekend,” Walleyes manager Chase Tunstall said.
The Walleyes left the bases loaded in the first, third and seventh innings, before reaching pay-dirt the eighth. They took a 4-0 lead, scoring three runs in the bottom half of the fourth, and made it 5-2 in the sixth with the help of a double by J.C. Worsham.
Moses Lake got a nice effort from starter Andrew Frey, who gave up two runs and scattered four hits over six innings of work.
“My fastball wasn’t always where I wanted it, but other than that I felt pretty good,” said Frey, who finished the game with 95 pitches. “I think we’re turning things around, we’ve been playing well better. We have a better mindset and I think that showed tonight.”
The Junior Beetles came back with three runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game, but Moses Lake, which scored six runs on eight hits, finally put together the timely hits to get over the top.
Game 1
Beetles 000 002 30 - 5 7 3
Walleyes 100 301 01 - 6 8 0
Hits: Sawyer Jenks (RBI), J.C. Worsham (2B), Tre Spencer (2B).
Game 2
Moses Lake 8, Yakima 7
Moses Lake scored seven runs in the seventh inning to beat Yakima 8-7.
Worsham had two hits and two RBI.