Moses Lake and Othello softball go head to head

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake High School and Othello High School softball teams went head to head on Saturday in a three team matchup with Marysville-Pilchuck High School at Moses Lake High School.

To start the morning off, Othello took an 11-3 victory over Moses Lake.

“I have a lot of respect for Moses Lake teams and it was no different this weekend. The game could easily have gone the other way. Moses Lake is well-coached and well-trained. Our girls were right on, there were some nice plays to put ends to threats,” wrote Othello head coach Rudy Ochoa in an email after the game.

While the matchup was tight in the first inning, 2-2, Othello got the jump in the second inning to take a 4-run lead. Othello shut Moses Lake out in both the second and third innings.

The final score was 11-3 with Othello having nine total hits compared to Moses Lake’s three.

Othello went on to beat Marysville-Pilchuck 21-7 in the next game of the tournament.

In an exciting set of events, Othello’s Emi Pruneda hit one out of the park to score a homerun for the Huskies at the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Moses Lake’s Piper Bradshaw also hit one over the fence to nab a home run.

Othello went on to score four more runs in the final three innings while holding Moses Lake back.

“As far as playing on the field, I think we got real good defense and our hitting is really strong this year. Then we got quite a few pitchers that we switch off and on,” said Ochoa. “But the best thing about our team is that they all get along so well.”

Othello holds a 15-0 record, ranked No. 5 in the WIAA 2A category and will travel to Eisenhower April 26.

After Othello’s victory on Saturday, Moses Lake took on Marysville-Pilchuck and won 12-2.

Just prior to the tournament, Moses Lake was on the road for a couple of double headers this last week and came out on top in those contests.

On April 20- Moses Lake traveled to Coeur d' Alene to take on Lake City High School and left with a sweep. The Chiefs’ offense was too much for Lake City to handle as Moses Lake outscored them 33-11 in the doubleheader.

Paige Richardson earned the win in the circle and offensive leaders for the Chiefs in game one were Rilie Sanchez- 3-4, 4 RBIs, Kendall Reffett- 2-4, 2 RBIs, Mikayla Schwartz- 2-4, 2 RBIs and Piper Bradshaw- 3-4, 4 RBIs, HR and a double.

Game two, Morgan Ross got the win from the mound and offensive leaders for the Chiefs were Ali Stanley- 2-4, 7 RBIs, HR, double, Reffett- 2-4, 4 RBIs, double and triple, Katelyn Kriete- 2-4, 2 RBIs, HR, Sanchez- 2-3, 2 RBIs, Schwartz- 2 RBI's and Jazlynn Torres- 3-4.

The Chiefs continued their high-octane offense with a 16-8 win in game one at Wenatchee on April 22. Richardson fought back from an early deficit to earn the win. Offensively Raegen Hofheins went 5-5, Reffett- 2-5, 2 RBIs and Bradshaw- 3-5, Grand Slam, 6 RBIs.

Game two was decided much earlier as Moses Lake jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back. Ross earned the victory with Stanley homering and going 3-4 with 4 RBIs. Reffett, Schwartz and Sanchez all added 2 RBIs each to lead the Chiefs’ offense.

Moses Lake is 12-3-1, ranked No. 11 in the WIAA 4A category.

Moses Lake enters this week with a big showdown against West Valley High School. Currently West Valley, Eastmont and Moses Lake all have 1 league loss and this game may decide the regular season league champion. The double header starts at 4 p.m. at Moses Lake High School’s Varsity Field on April 29.

Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.