Othello secures 6-0 victory against Quincy
OTHELLO – The Othello Huskies earned a 6-0 victory in Tuesday afternoon’s game against the Jacks.
“We had a pretty good game there,” said Huskies head coach Sonny Garza. “We had a good approach at the plate, strung a few hits together in the middle innings and were able to get some runs.”
Garza said pitcher Quade Gonzalez played a major factor in the team’s success Tuesday. Gonzalez rang up 16 strikeouts, allowed only one hit, zero runs and walked two over the course of the seven innings played.
“I have this thing where you listen to a song over and over again and you play it in your head while you’re pitching,” said Gonzalez when asked how he gets himself in the right mindset to begin pitching. “You just get into that Zen, that mode and lock in.”
Going into the game, the Huskies were focused on making sure they focused on offense and defense, taking care of the baseball defensively and making sure they themselves batted well, said Garza.
The Huskies took an early lead when Gonzalez drew a walk to score a run in the first inning. The team was able to add to their lead in the third when Trey Tovar singled and Ryan Martinez grounded out, both scoring a run.
Martinez again scored on a steal of home, Zayvier Olazcon scored after Sonny Salazar singled and Jordan Montemayor scored on a steal of home in the bottom of the sixth. The Jacks then struck out in the top of the seventh, giving the Huskies the 6-0 victory.
Quincy had prepared for an uphill battle against Othello, said Jacks head coach Seth Longwill. When facing a strong team like Othello, they needed to make sure not to give extra outs, Longwill said, but unfortunately for Quincy, that’s what happened.
“Othello is a top-notch team for sure,” said Longwill. “I just wanted our athletes to show up, and I thought we did, we hung around.”
Longwill said that if the Jacks should take anything out of this game, it’s that they can still hang in there with the top teams in the league.
“We played three out of the four top teams in the league already and we’ve hung in there and had close games,” said Longwill. “We’ve just got to learn how to finish ... Build momentum when we can.”
Longwill said that, going forward, the Jacks will be focused on getting better by continuing to play solid defense, getting more hits on the ball, and making sure to capitalize on errors made in the game.
For the Huskies, they are still going to continue to work on having a good approach at the plate and stay aggressive and keep the pressure on the bases, said Garza.
The Huskies play their next game on the road against Stanwood this afternoon at 1 p.m. and the Jacks look toward a doubleheader on the road against Toppenish on Saturday, with the first game starting at 11 a.m.
Othello Huskies Roster
Name, Jersey
Aaden Montes, 22
Aiden Garza, 27
Carmine Garza, 10
Garrett Weyns, 44
Jason Valdez, 1
Jaxon Gomez, 11
Jordan Montemayor, 8
Josiah Garza, 24
Kal-El Ozuna, 4
Quade Gonzalez, 18
RJay Garza, 9
Ryan Martinez, 5
Sonny Salazar, 21
Trey Tovar, 3
Xzyyvn Martinez, 6
Zayvier Olazcon, 7
Quincy Jacks Roster
Name, Jersey
Adrian Baughman, 15
Jaxon Arredondo-Porter, 0
Alex Aguilar, 27
Ashton Barnes-Keller, 10
Caleb Coduti, 1
Caleb Kukes, 3
Carter Yeates, 5
Clinton Tuttle, 23
Conner Galloway, 12
DJ Frerks, 24
Ej Mora, 11
Evander Stephens, 22
Jace Reyes, 13
Mario Santana, 21