Moses Lake ousted from 4A state softball tournament
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake starter Gina Skinner works against Camas during the first round of the 4A state softball tournament in Spokane.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake first baseman Brooke Richardson stretches to force out Camas runner Sophie Franklin.
SPOKANE — Moses Lake was unable to rally in a pair of games and was eliminated from the 4A state softball tournament Friday at Merkel Sports Complex in Spokane.
Camas starting pitcher Kennedy Ferguson took a perfect game into the fifth inning and the Papermakers beat the Chiefs 12-1. Moses Lake lost its next loser-out contest to Rogers of Puyallup 14-4.
Moses Lake struggled all-around, scoring five runs total and committing 10 errors in two games.
In the tournament opener, Ferguson mowed down Moses Lake’s lineup with 10 consecutive strikeouts to start the game. The Chiefs continued to swing under Ferguson’s rise ball as strikeout after strikeout continued to pile up.
Madison Olson broke up the perfect game in the fifth inning with a bloop single that landed in shallow right field.
Moses Lake only trailed Camas 1-0 through three innings. However, the Papermakers scored five runs in the fourth inning and three runs in the fifth inning.
Cameron Besner, Abbi Wong, Payton Bates and Kyli Obermiller recorded an RBI each in the fourth inning. Emery Miller later homered for the Papermakers, who finished fourth in state.
Skinner struck out five batters in seven innings.
Rogers scored nine unanswered runs to build a 9-0 lead through four innings against Moses Lake.
Rachel Wicker lifted a first-inning home run over the right-field fence and Ariel Clark totaled six RBI. Clark was 3-for-5 with a double.
Brooke Richardson singled home Skinner in the fifth inning for the Chiefs’ first run. Richardson later scored in the seventh inning after Hadleigh Cranston drew a bases-loaded walk.
Moses Lake starter Savannah Ashley lasted two innings before Skinner entered in the third.
Despite the early exit from the state tournament, Moses Lake will graduate only one senior — Richardson — and will be poised to make a return trip in 2019.
Game 1
C — 0 1 0 5 3 0 3 12
ML — 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Highlights: Savannah Ashley 1 RBI; Gina Skinner 5 K
Game 2
R — 2 5 2 0 0 0 5 14
ML — 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 4
Highlights: Brooklyn Bailey 2x3, 2B; Brooke Richardson 1 RBI; Michelle Turner 1 RBI; Harley Raymond 1 RBI; Hadleigh Cranston 1 RBI