Moses Lake softball goes to tournament, falls short of placing
A Lady Chief slides into home plate during the game against Central Valley on Friday. Moses Lake lost the game, 7-24.
Rebecca Pettingill/Columbia Basin Herald
Fourteen Lady Chiefs pose for a photo at the state tournament in Yakima on Friday and Saturday.
Junior Marissa Cohee received the sportsmanship medallion at the end of the first match of the state tournament.
Senior Rylie Sanchez goes to bat against Moses Lake’s first opponent, Union, at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association/Gesa Credit Union State Slowpitch Softball tournament on Friday.
YAKIMA — The Moses Lake High School girls slow pitch softball team participated in the 4A Washington Interscholastic Activities Association/Gesa Credit Union State Slowpitch Softball tournament in Yakima during the weekend, but did not place in the top four.
The Chiefs’ first matchup of the tournament was against Union High School at noon Friday. Going into the tournament, Union was ranked third and Moses Lake was ranked sixth. Only a small number of Chiefs fans traveled two hours to the tournament.
Moses Lake had a strong first inning, quickly taking a 4-0 lead over Union. Three Lady Chiefs even hit doubles. With Union at bat, Moses Lake took out the first three batters without giving them a chance to make base.
During the second inning, it wasn’t quite as exciting, but still a good run for the Lady Chiefs. They made three more runs, still holding Union back from scoring.
The third inning saw a home run hit by senior Rylie Sanchez. The home run also brought in a run from junior Marissa Cohee, who was on base for senior Maddison Pitts. Those were the only two runs for the Lady Chiefs that inning, bringing the lead to 9-0.
Union stepped up its game during the fourth inning, finally securing three runs and preventing the Lady Chiefs from advancing their lead. At the end of the fourth inning, it was 9-3.
The fifth and final inning was the most successful for the Lady Chiefs. They scored 11 runs, bringing their lead to more than 10 and stopping the game at the end of the fifth inning instead of going to seven innings. Union was not able to gain any traction and the final score was 20-3.
Moses Lake junior Marissa Cohee received one of two sportsmanship medallions at the end of the game from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association referees. The other medallion was given to a Union player.
“We played well; we hit well; we played pretty good defense; our pitching was good,” head coach Mike Hofheins said after the game. “I told the girls we’ve beaten two other teams in this tournament. We’re as good as anybody if we play well, so we just got to keep doing what we’re doing. I think we have a good shot.”
Hofheins said most teams are good in their first five players for hitting and running, but his team has the advantage of being good through the first 10. He said he has a great team overall because the players know the game and have had a lot of experience.
Later Friday afternoon, the Lady Chiefs took their first loss to Central Valley (Spokane), 7-24. Central Valley took second place in the tournament, after losing the championship game to Chiawana by one run.
On Saturday, Moses Lake took on Battle Ground in hopes of taking third or fourth place. Battle Ground bested the Lady Chiefs 17-16, ending the Lady Chiefs’ run and prohibiting them from receiving a top four placement.
Hofheins said there is no placement given after fourth, so his team didn’t place.
