Tigers dominate doubleheader on the road

EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers (3-8) earned a dominant doubleheader win over the Toppenish Wildcats, winning back-to-back games 15-0 and 18-0 on Saturday.   

“The guys had a couple of really good days of practice late last week, refocusing on some of our offensive goals and approaches and those types of things,” Head Coach David Tempel said. “Really proud of our pitchers, (they) came in, commanded the zone through strikes, got ahead on counts, all those things that you preach, and you can start to see their efforts starting to pay off.”   

The Tigers’ first game started slow, not earning a run until the third inning. Defensively, they were successful at holding Toppenish scoreless. An 11-run fourth inning put Ephrata ahead 12-0. They added three more runs to secure their first win of the day.  

The Tigers proceeded to carry their momentum into game two, scoring two runs in the first inning. From there, they built their lead while holding the Wildcats scoreless, ultimately sealing their second win of the day.   

“It was two great wins on the road in a tough league and just for us, approaching it every day is another opportunity to grow and to learn and improve our skill set, and keep stacking those positive days on top of each other,” Tempel said.   

Defense was the name of the game to start game one for the Tigers. A run in the third by Caleb Froewiss had already put Ephrata up 1-0. From there, Clayton Wolther, Cale Fronsman, Mayson Stredwick, Elijah Davis, Grayson Webb, Braiden Baltz and Kai Kaleohano got home to give the Tigers a commanding 12-0 lead.   

“They took what (Toppenish) gave them If we earned walks or earned hit by pitches, then we were able to do the little things to get guys moved into scoring position and make small innings turn into big innings and they just kept getting it to the next guy. Just kept doing those little things that could help us be successful,” Tempel said.   

Ephrata added three more runs in the fifth and sixth inning to seal the win. On the flip side, Cooper Vasquez and Landen Stephens split the pitching duties. Vasquez threw for three innings, allowed one hit, one walk and struck out six batters. In two innings, Stephens allowed one hit, two walks and struck out three batters.   

“Hats off to our defense that in the past couple of games have made some of those errors that have led to other scoring opportunities for our opponents,” Tempel said. “Great week of practice, and just a re-emphasis of those fundamentals and making those routine plays, but a great job of them bending, not breaking.”  

The Tigers carried their momentum into game two with a pair of runs in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead. Froewiss scored a run; Dayen Holland got home on a wild pitch play.  

From there, they held Toppenish scoreless while adding 12 runs across the second and third inning, increasing their lead to 14-0. Ephrata added four more runs in the top of the fifth.   

Fronsman and Charles Poirrier took over the pitching responsibility in game two. Fronsman allowed one hit, zero walks, zero runs and struck out seven batters. Poirrier pitched one inning, striking out three batters.   

The Tigers go back on the road Tuesday to play East Valley at 3:30 p.m. Their next home game is slated for April 11 against Prosser in a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. For Tempel and the Tigers, they are focused on consistent improvement as the season progresses.   

“It just comes back to consistency, just day in day out. Whether it's consistency on the mound or consistency in our approach at the plate or consistency on defense,” he said. “Saturday was a great indication of when we do put all three facets together, the types of success that is possible.”   

BOX SCORES:   

Game one  

TPSH: 0-0-0-0-0-*: 0  

EPHT: 0-0-1-11-2-1: 15  

Game two  

TPSH: 0-0-0-0-0: 0  

EPHT: 2-6-6-0-4: 18  

    The Ephrata Tigers’ Mayson Stredwick (14) steps up to bat for the team earlier this season. Stredwick scored a run and earned three RBIs in game one against Toppenish Saturday.
  

    Landen Stephens (1) steps into his swing in an early season game. Stephens struck out three batters in game one against Toppenish Saturday.
  

    The Tigers’ Andrew Rowlands (10) sprints toward first base in a previous game. Rowlands scored two runs against Toppenish in game two of their doubleheader Saturday.