Walleyes ready to take new season to a different level

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Walleyes will take advantage of new blood and old school when they open the AA baseball season against Wenatchee Monday at 5 p.m. at Larson Playfield.

Manager Chase Tunstall has added a couple of guys to his staff that know a little something about throwing a baseball in former Big Bend hurlers Tyson Yamane and Cade Tunstall, who finished up their community college careers at the NWAC Baseball Championships. The experience all three coaches bring to the table gives the AA team a strong foundation to build upon.

“I think adding my brother and Tyson will be a big help,” Tunstall said. “Both played infield for their high schools. They have a lot to offer our young guys, so I think we should be pretty solid this year.”

The Walleyes have 13 on the current roster, with some designated to help out the Central Washington Spuds sometime during the year. The team is mostly comprised of 15- 16-year-olds. They return guys like Tre Spencer and Chayton Fisk and Andrew Frey from last year’s team. They also have a lot of new arms and several new position players that have moved up from the Sun Devils.

Some of the new players include Kaeden Vasquez at third base, Braden Padilla behind the plate, they also add left-hander Kamden Kuykendall, who will also play a little first base.

The staff is in Moses Lake Chiefs tradition with location pitching and pitching to contact. There isn’t any big strike out guy, but Chase Tunstall hopes to throw strikes and play defense behind his staff.

“Kaeden Vasquez (KV) has the biggest arm on the staff and throws hard. The rest of the guys are deceptive and can hit spots when they need to. It really fits into what we’re trying to accomplish and what we have around us with a out of double plays.”

In the middle infield, Carter Visker is expected to play shortstop and CJ Ramirez will go at second base.

“I am very happy with what’s happening. We have a lot of young guys that work really hard. I think we’re going to be able to manufacture runs and hold them off,” Chase Tunstall said. “We have some team speed where we can steal a few bases, but we also have some big boppers in the middle of the order we’ll count on. We can most definitely go first to third and help ourselves.”

Spencer and Fisk return in the outfield with good speed to help with the coverage in the gaps. They have some new faces that will play the other corner in right field.