Chiefs erase 5-0 deficit, inch closer to CBBN title

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake softball sung and danced along to Journey’s hit record “Don’t Stop Believin’” between innings.

A perfect soundtrack to Tuesday’s tilt between the league’s two best teams.

When the Chiefs only had one hit through three innings they didn’t stop believing.

And when the Chiefs dug a 5-0 hole they didn’t stop believing, either. Behind Kaylee Valdez’s three RBI, Moses Lake rallied to beat Eastmont 8-5

“Honestly, we don’t really get down,” Valdez said. “Everyone in the dugout, we encourage each other. On the field we’ve bonded really well together to know each other’s weaknesses and strengths and to pick each other up.”

Eastmont entered Tuesday one game behind Moses Lake in the Columbia Basin Big Nine standings and was eager to unseat the reigning league champion. Eastmont played exceptional defense early as starting pitcher Callie Lawrence induced ground outs or towering pop outs. Gina Skinner’s first-inning double was the only Moses Lake hit after three innings.

Conversely, Skinner and the Chiefs ran into some bumps defensively in the top of the second. The Wildcats loaded the bases with no outs and scored four runs, highlighted by RBI singles from Jazmin Grupp and Lauren James.

Eastmont tacked on one more run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Nia Peasley to pull ahead 5-0. It was Moses Lake’s second five-run deficit in as many games.

“She (Skinner) was hitting her spots; they were hitting them,” head coach Mike Hofheins said. “But she adjusted and competed and all those things and did what she had to do. Played not like a freshman, that’s for sure.”

The game turned on an error.

Just when Eastmont was prepared to end the fourth inning, a ground ball hit to the shortstop was tossed into center field and Brooke Richardson came all the way around from first base to score. Valdez followed with a RBI single to draw the Chiefs within three runs.

It wasn’t the whole thing, but it was something.

“We discovered that we can rally a lot,” Valdez said.

And rally they did.

Finally with some confidence, Brooklyn Bailey began the five-run fifth inning with an RBI single and later went fully horizontal to slide under a tag at home to score the game-tying run.

In addition to her offensive output, Bailey made a leaping catch in deep center field to save a run the previous inning.

“First of all, she’s an animal on the base paths,” Hofheins said. “She’s fast and she anticipates really, really, really well. Of course she anticipates balls in the outfield, too. She’s a gifted athlete and she showed her skills off a little bit.”

The difference in the later innings came with patience at the plate. Moses Lake took advantage of Lawrence as she got deeper into her pitch count.

Valdez worked a long at-bat before looping a double to the outfield wall that scored the go-ahead runs.

“She (Lawrence) was coming inside and then you just have to wait on it and she’ll throw it down the middle and just keep battling,” she said.

Skinner helped her cause in the sixth inning with a sac fly that scored Cheyenne Walker. The freshman hurler, with some help from her defense, retired the final six Eastmont batters in order.

“She’s a mighty little freshman, honestly, I’m really proud of her,” Valdez said. “She’s able to stay in the game and she can also rely on her defense. I think she’s very confident in us and we’re very confident in her.”

Box score

E — 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 5

ML — 0 0 0 2 5 1 8

Highlights: Valdez 3 RBI, 2B; Skinner 1 RBI, 1 R, 2B, 7 IP, 5 K; Richardson 1 RBI, 2 R; Bailey 1 RBI, 1 R; Savannah Ashley 2 R