Moses Lake baseball turns pink for wins against Wenatchee

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake High School baseball team took on a new color on April 22. Instead of the usual maroon and gold, the team took on custom pink jerseys for the game.

The pink jerseys were simple, ‘M Lake’ logo on the front with a small ribbon sitting on the athletes’ left breast, above their hearts and their jersey numbers and last name on the back. They also sported tube socks with pink stripes at the top to match.

Why would the team be wearing bright pink on a Friday night in April one might ask. That’s because the team decided to honor assistant coach Jaime Vela Jr.’s, mom, Maribel Vela, who is fighting breast cancer.

Vela’s father, Jaime Sr., also threw the first pitch for the game

“It means a lot, it really does, the amount of support, they kind of caught me off guard yesterday (when he was shown the shirts and first told about the plan for the game),” said Jaime Jr.

To top it off, Moses Lake won both games of the doubleheader that night against Wenatchee High School 10-3 and 11-1.

“You know, I look at all of them like little brothers and they all kind of see me as an older brother, and it's really cool. I love the relationship and these guys. You know, sometimes you only pay attention to the media, you know, sometimes you lose faith in kids sometimes and it's just like, ‘Man, everything's going downhill,’ but these kids give me hope. They're such great kids, great individuals and they give me hope for the future of Grant County.”

Head coach Donnie Lindgren said his team’s biggest strength this season has been pitching.

“Our pitching has been outstanding. You know, we've had two starters in (junior) Michael Getzinger and (senior) Carson Janke that have really set the tone for us and bringing in (senior) Gavin Bingham and (junior) Drew Grenninger just has been dynamite. They’re just throwing strikes and giving our defense a chance to play,” Lindgren said.

Lindgren said he thinks the team’s biggest struggle is consistency in both offense and defense.

“We just have to continue to do the fundamentals. And that's what we've been working on the last couple of weeks. It's just getting back to the fundamentals and playing the game the right way, which they do all the time but sometimes it's just, you know, they get a little lax when the score gets out … of reach or whatever. So it's just a matter of keeping them in it,” said Lindgren.

The team is 13-1 overall and 12-0 in the conference according to MaxPreps. Their only loss was to Woodinville 10-6 on March 12.

The team sits at No. 2 on the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Rating Percentage Index list for 4A baseball. They also hold the No. 1 spot in the Columbia Basin Big 9 League.

The Chiefs’ next matchup is against league contender West Valley (Yakima) on April 26 at 5 p.m. at Larson Play Fields.

“You know, I think people would be really surprised to know how really good we are. I think we've kind of been under the radar since COVID hit. We won the state championship in 2019 and we haven't had a real season since then. And two of these guys were on that team and the expectations are to get back to the playoffs and see what we can do in that, but I don't think people realize what a really good group of baseball players we have. I mean, we have three seniors that have already committed to colleges. Another one that's being recruited. We've got a junior, who's committed to Gonzaga already. So, we've got a really good group of baseball players and they're just a lot of fun. They're happy-go-lucky and it's a blast. I love coaching them,” Lindgren said.

Rebecca Pettingill can be reached via email at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.