Jackrabbits move to 3-3 with win over Omak

QUINCY – The Quincy Jackrabbits evened their record at 3-3 with a 9-4 win over Omak on Wednesday, their third-straight win after beginning the season 0-3.

The Jackrabbits have outscored their opponents 47-5 in their past three games.

“We want to keep scoring at least 10-plus runs, that’s our goal,” Head Coach Seth Longwill said. “Our pitching has turned around, also, so I think we’re feeding off of that. Our defense, we had a couple errors that we gotta clean up from Omak, but that energy for the pitching has turned into hitting. That’s what we’re doing, going to keep trying to get better every week.”

Two losses to Tonasket and a loss to Warden started the season for Quincy, all of which were losses of six-plus runs. Since then, the Jackrabbits have flipped the switch.

“We didn’t get off to a good start, and we really let things snowball,” Longwill said. “We talked to the kids and cleaned some stuff. Worked with the coaches, the attitudes and everything, and the kids have responded.”

Against Omak on Wednesday, Quincy found themselves down 1-0 after the first inning before scoring six runs over the next five innings. Longwill said coming back from early deficits was a struggle for last year’s squad.

“I was really proud of that performance, it shows our leaders, our returners were stepping up,” Longwill said. “We’re not just giving up. We’re realizing that baseball is a seven-inning game, and a lot can happen.”

Sophomore pitcher Evander Stephens struck out 12 Omak batters over six innings pitched, surrendering three hits and earning only one run.

“He only pitched a little on varsity last year, but just having that experience of seeing hitters the last couple of years now – and he’s worked hard in the offseason,” Longwill said. “He’s really been hitting the weights and grinding out then. He’s starting to force his will on the other team and what he wants to do. He’s pushing them and making them adjust.”

Quincy added on three insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning to help ice away the game, going on to a 9-4 win.

“Anytime you can tack on a little bit extra so you’re not stressing in those one or two-run games, it’s nice to have those insurance runs,” Longwill said.

Senior Jackson Yeates, sophomore Caleb Coduti, sophomore Gavin Gonzalez and senior Kenny Thompson all batted in runs in Wednesday’s win.

“The kids have been getting comfortable, we’ve got a lot of new kids in the lineup,” Longwil said. “Getting comfortable at the varsity level is a lot of it. We’ve been putting in work at practice. Locking down their approach is what they’re trying to do, what they’re trying to look for to see and make them more comfortable.”

Longwill credited assistant coach Adrian Boites for helping to develop the Jackrabbit pitching staff. Quincy lost three pitchers to graduation from last year’s roster.

“He does a great job, he’s getting the kids to work on their pitches,” Longwill said. “It’s just been phenomenal.”

Next on the schedule for the Jackrabbits is a road doubleheader against Royal on April 8. First pitch is at 10 a.m.

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

Box Score

Quincy 0-2-0-2-1-1-3 9

Omak 1-0-0-1-0-2-0 4