Mavs weather a delay, down Eastmont 5-2

MOSES LAKE – Following an hour-long weather delay, the Moses Lake Mavericks used a strong first inning to get past Eastmont on Tuesday evening, winning 5-2 over the Wildcats.

The win was the ninth-straight for Moses Lake, who now holds a 9-1 record on the year.

“It’s nice to start out,” Moses Lake Head Coach Donnie Lindgren said. “We’re really inexperienced, so I think the winning is building their confidence a little bit. It’s really nice to have that.”

Senior Zane Harden got the first run of the day on a bunt that sent home senior Braeden Anderson in the first inning. In the next at-bat, senior Josh West drove home two runs to put the Mavericks up 3-0.

“When (West) gets the barrel on it, I don’t know if there’s anyone that hits the ball harder off the bat,” Lindgren said. “He’s a clutch hitter, that’s why he’s in the four spot.”

Harden added his second RBI of the game in the third inning, a triple that put the Mavericks up 4-0. Senior pitcher Michael Getzinger’s RBI single in the same inning gave Moses Lake a 5-0 advantage.

Eastmont made a rally in the top of the sixth inning, getting the bases loaded with two outs. The Wildcats managed two runs, but senior Drew Greninger saved more runs from being added with a throw to home plate from just outside the infield.

“I saw it was kind of a soft blooper up the middle, and I didn’t know if (the runner) was going to go from third,” Greninger said. “I saw him go, so I came up firing right to home and he was out by a mile.”

Senior pitcher Kaiden Valdez closed out the game with back-to-back strikeouts, ending the contest in a 5-2 Moses Lake win.

“He throws the ball extremely hard for his size and he knows the game so well,” Lindgren said. “It’s nice to have a young man like him, a senior, that can come in and close the door for us like that.”

Having already warmed up in preparation for a 4 p.m. start, Getzinger, who started the game, used part of the delay to stay warm in his truck and prepare his mind to step onto the mound.

“I went and sat in the truck for a little bit, warmed up, came out and did my stretches,” Getzinger said. “It’s more of a mental thing, the mentality. Just go out and do your job. That’s all you can really do.”

The senior, who is committed to play college baseball at Gonzaga, started the game with a three up, three down first inning.

“Michael Getzinger set the tone on the mound,” Lindgren said. “Hour delay – he was all warm, he comes back, has to sit, has to help get the field ready and then he has to warm up again. Then he puts them down, one, two, three. That was a big key for us, and that gets our offense going too.”

Moses Lake has now won nine straight games and has outscored its opponents this season by 76 runs. The team heads to East Wenatchee for a doubleheader against Eastmont on Friday. First pitch is at 4 p.m.

“Winning builds winning, there’s no doubt about it, but we’ve got tough games ahead of us,” Lindgren said. “We played Sunnyside and (Eisenhower), and now we really hit the bug clubs. Eastmont, they’re a great team. We go down there on Friday, and if we don’t play our best game we could lose two to them because they’re well coached, got great athletes and really good pitching.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box Score

Wildcats 0-0-0-0-0-2-0: 2

Mavericks 3-0-2-0-0-0-X: 5