Huskies drop two on the diamond to the Bulldogs
ELLENSBURG — Othello Baseball had a rough outing in Ellensburg Monday, dropping both games of a twin bill to the Bulldogs. Errors on the diamond played a major role in both losses as the Huskies committed seven on the afternoon.
Ellensburg 10
Othello 0
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opener and never looked back, adding 6 runs in the bottom of the third inning in a game that was shortened by the 10-run rule. The Huskies went down in order to start things off. Back-to-back walks off starter AJ Pruneda and a line drive double to center by Ellensburg’s Jason Bugni put the Bulldogs up 2-0. Brady Helgeson singled in Bugni to make it 3-0. Othello’s Joshua Garza was unable to cleanly handle Connor Wing’s hot shot to third base and Helgeson scored on the error for the fourth run of the inning.
The Huskies failed to produce a run over the next two innings and the game was called. Pruneda went two and a third innings on the hill, giving up 10 runs, seven of which were unearned, off 6 hits. He also got the lone hit for Othello on a double to right field.
Ellensburg 10
Othello 3
The Huskies got out of the gate first in the nightcap with a run in the top of the third. Their lead didn’t last long as the Bulldogs posted two on the board in the home half of the frame. Othello knotted it 2-all in the top of the fourth when Jay Rodriguez doubled in AJ Pruneda. The Huskies regained the lead, 3-2, in the top of the fifth on a Jaxon Rocha single to right that scored Nathan Garza from first base.
Ellensburg took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the inning. The Bulldogs added 6 runs in the bottom of the sixth to win going away.
Othello pounded out five hits in the contest, led by Rocha who went 2-for-4 at the dish with an RBI. The twin losses drop the Huskies to 6-3 in the CWAC standing and 7-4 overall.
“Game one was tough from the get go. We fell behind by four runs after the first inning and were never able to get back in it,” coach Sonny Garza said. “It was a tough loss for us in the second game. We didn’t take care of the baseball in the late innings and it really cost us. Jonathan Garza Jr. did a great job on the mound for us… kept their hitters off balance and really controlled most of the game on the mound. Jaxon Rocha had two hits for us. Jay Rodriguez hit well too with a huge double in the fourth to bring in a run.”
Othello was back on the diamond for a single home game with East Valley Tuesday, but the result of the contest was not available at press time.