Senior Legion baseball roundup: June 28, 2024

MOSES LAKE – Senior Legion baseball teams from Coulee City, Moses Lake and Othello have been hitting the diamond over the past few weeks, competing in league games and tournaments around the state.

ACH Legion

The AA Warriors improved to 6-0 with back-to-back sweeps of East Valley and Northwest Christian on Friday and Saturday, respectively, defeating the Knights 16-5 and 8-3 before besting the Crusaders 11-7 and 8-2.

In the opening game against NWC on Saturday, ACH took a 2-0 lead through the first two innings before surging with an eight-run top of the third that featured a two-RBI single by Hunter Flaa, an RBI double by Harvest Parrish, an RBI triple by Brady Roberts and RBI from Brody Pitts and Caden Correia. The Crusaders responded by cutting the lead to 10-5 with a five-run bottom of the fourth, but ACH held on to the lead for an eventual 11-7 win.

ACH opened the second game with a sacrifice bunt by Jase Cox that sent home Correia and an RBI single from Josh Booker to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, maintaining the lead en route to its eventual 8-2 win. Pitts led ACH with two RBI, Grayson Beal collected two hits and Flaa scored three runs in the win.

The Warriors travel to Freeman for a doubleheader on Tuesday. The first game begins at 2 p.m.

Columbia Basin River Dogs

The AAA River Dogs (5-21) played in four games at last week’s 19U Palouse Summer Series, which had games played at Colfax and Pullman high schools, Lewis-Clark State College and Washington State University. 

Columbia Basin’s first game was a 16-4 loss to New Level Baseball 18U at Colfax High School. The River Dogs held a 4-3 advantage through the first four innings, as Jett Lewallen tied the game at three with an RBI single and Jackson Carlos gave the team the lead by scoring off an error, but New Level scored four runs in the top of the sixth and nine runs in the top of the seventh to emerge victorious. 

On Friday, the River Dogs fell 7-4 to Merchants BC at Pullman High School before suffering an 8-0 loss to the Idaho Show at WSU, wrapping up the weekend with a 3-2 loss to West Coast Express at LCSC on Saturday afternoon. The River Dogs took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first with a two-RBI double by Lewallen, but the Express took the lead on a two-RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to take the win.

Columbia Basin took on the Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak in a doubleheader on Wednesday in Ephrata, falling 6-0 and 5-0. Yakima Valley led 1-0 before scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth in the first game, and had a similar showing in the nightcap – the Pepsi Pak held a 1-0 lead entering the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs to win 5-0. 

Othello Red Raiders

After falling 8-3 and 10-0 in the season-opening doubleheader against the Yakima Valley Peppers, AA Othello rallied with a sweep of Hanford on June 20, defeating the Flames 10-2 and 18-9.

Sonny Salazar led the way for Othello in the first game against Hanford, collecting three hits while tying with Quade Gonzalez for a team-high three RBI in the 10-2 win. Hanford took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, but a five-run top of the third with RBI from Kal-El Ozuna, Salazar, Gonzalez and RJay Garza gave the Red Raiders the lead for good. 

In the nightcap of the doubleheader, Gonzalez paced Othello with three hits and three RBI in the 18-9 win, where the Red Raiders trailed 9-7 through five innings before scoring 11 runs in the top of the sixth against the Flames. 

Othello fell in both games of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Kennewick Phantoms, losing 12-0 in both outings. The Red Raiders (2-4) take the field on Monday in a doubleheader against the Yakima Valley Peppers beginning at 4 p.m. at Othello High School.

    Columbia Basin River Dog pitcher Cooper Hancock unleashes a pitch during a game in the 2023 season. Hancock took the mound during the nightcap of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak.