Pepsi-Pak sweeps Central Washington Spuds at Larson Playfield
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Central Washington first baseman Travis Robertson, center, is congratulated after scoring during the first game of Thursday's AAA American Legion game at Larson Playfield.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Central Washington's Kameron Huberdeau drives a ball back up the middle during the first game of Thursday's AAA American Legion game against the Pepsi-Pak.
MOSES LAKE — It’s been whirlwind of adjustments in the early going for the Central Washington Spuds and Thursday night’s AAA American Legion doubleheader with the Yakima Valley Pepsi-Pak reflected a team trying to settle in with the dust.
The Spuds (0-4) dropped the twin bill at Larson Playfield 3-1 and 5-2, despite a pretty fair pitching performance from Austin Valdez and Bo Hesse.
Manager Robert Haensel stepped down to address family issues and when they went to hand in the rosters the Spuds discovered three players didn’t meet the new age criteria. Turned out Colton Minoletti, Jackson Gray and Cain Valdez-Deleon were too old to play this season. The Spuds will move forward with Steve Keller at manager with coaches Brock Lybbert and Jaret Fulbright.
“Robert has some family issues he needed to take care of,” Keller said. “Colton, Jackson and Cain all had after Thanksgiving birthdays, which is different from years past.
“So we’ll use guys from the Walleyes in a dual-roster roles for the tournaments coming up. We’ll be OK.”
The Spuds fell behind in both games Thursday night. They gave up two runs in the first inning of the nightcap, then fell behind 3-0 before getting on the board. In the opener, Central Washington gave up two runs in the second, playing catch-up for the night.
“I look at it like debits and credits. We gave up runs early and to our credit, I thought we had outstanding pitching performances. Austin Valdez is such a seasoned pitcher and I thought Bo Hesse came in and gave us a quality start in the second.”
Pepsi-Pak 5, Spuds 2
Central Washington made it a one-run game when Zach Valdez drove in two runs with a two-out single in the bottom of the third. Austin Valdez singled right behind him but the score remained 3-2 through the seventh inning.
Pepsi-Pak scored two runs on two Spuds errors and completed the sweep when reliever Dylan Bishop struck out two of the final three batters, including Josh Jesse looking to end the game.
Zach Valdez was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI. Wade Visker was 1-for-3 and scored a run. Austin Valdez had a hit for the Spuds, who had just four hits.
Pepsi-Pak 3, Spuds 1
Ezekyel Ocha doubled and drove in a run. Travis Robertson went 2-for-2 hitting out of the eight hole and Tre Ramirez had a hit in the ninth position in the order. But again, the Spuds struggled to come up with timely hitting.
Pepsi-Pak out-hit Central Washington 10-4 and the two runs scored in the top of the second and another in the fourth was enough to get by in the opener.
“We’ll be OK. We’re just trying to find the right mix with our lineup,” Keller said. “We still have seven pitchers with varsity experience. The people in the dugout are excited and I think we’re good moving forward.”