Ochoa delivers in Big Bend's sweep over Treasure Valley

MOSES LAKE — Cinco de Mayo, Sophomore Day, RBI single, run scored — pick one, it was all good for Big Bend sophomore Daniel Ochoa from Moses Lake.

A year ago, the former Central Washington Spud was the manager for the Viking baseball team. But Big Bend manager Jameson Lange gave him another chance to play some ball and contribute to a team trying to make the NWAC baseball tournament for the first time since 2002. Ochoa, who played for Lange on the American Legion team, got his chance to make a difference in Saturday’s sweep over Treasure Valley (11-28, 5-19).

Ochoa stepped into the batter’s box to go to work against Chukars right-hander Payton Higgins and drove a fastball back up the middle to score Kyle Tolf. He moved over on a ground ball by Daulton Kvenvold, then scored on a Benny Albrecht single.

The No. 8 Vikings (25-17, 13-11 NWAC East) swept Treasure Valley 8-1 in the opener and 10-2 in the late game to keep their NWAC tournament hopes alive.

Right now, they’re just trying to get out of the East, where they have three of the eight ranked teams in the Coaches Poll with No. 2 Yakima Valley, No. 6 Spokane and No. 8 Big Bend.

“Coach has preached a lot during the year that even if you’re not getting a lot of playing time, you still need to work every day to get better,” said Ochoa, who has played for Lange dating back to the U14 all-star team the Crawdads.

“Every practice I’ve worked on fixing my swing. I respect my coaches for giving me the opportunity to come out and play and do something great for the team.”

Ochoa missed his chance early in the count on a fastball. He didn’t miss again when Higgins left another fastball over the plate.

“I hesitated on a fastball right down the middle early,” he said. “I had a feeling I was going to get another good pitch to hit, and I put a good swing on it right back up the middle. The only thing I really remember about the experience is that I remember saying, ‘Thank you Jesus.’ I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to get up there and swing the bat.”

In the second game, the Vikings scored five runs in the first two innings and rolled up the sweep with 14 hits and 10 runs. Trevor Luckey (.350) was 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. Albrecht (.327) was 3-for-4 with an triple and an RBI. Kyle Tolf (.305) was 3-for-4 with a double.

Starter Blake Collier went six innings, striking out six, walking two and scattering three hits for the win.

“I was hitting my spots pretty well with my fastball. I was throwing mostly four-seamers. But I like to bust right-handed batters inside with the two-seamer that tails in on them,” Collier said. “I felt really good today. My pitch count got up there — 109 — which is a little high. But I felt good.”

In the opener, Nate English (.357) had three hits, scoring three times and driving in a run.

The Vikings got a little help from Columbia Basin (24-18, 12-12), which took two from Blue Mountain (19-25, 8-16). So if Big Bend can close strong at home against Wenatchee on Wednesday and Blue Mountain on the road on Saturday, the Vikings can earn that third seed out of the East and go to the NWAC tournament for the first time since 2002.

“I like our chances, honestly,” Cody Banks said. “We can beat anybody in the league in my opinion. We just got play with the confidence and swag that we have. We know we’re in third place for a reason. We just go out and play like it.”