Tigers take second to close out summer baseball

EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers Baseball Club’s summer baseball season in the Tillage League came to an exciting conclusion Sunday as the team took second in the postseason tournament. 

“The weekend was a really good way for us to finish our summer season,” said Tigers Head Coach David Tempel. “It didn’t turn out the way we wanted to in the end, but I’m very proud of this group and these guys for all the work they put in this summer.” 

After a convincing 2-0 victory over Monarch Baseball Club Thursday afternoon, the Tigers got right back to the field Friday afternoon to face the Milton Freewater Twins.  

The Tigers maintained their momentum from the previous day and took the lead in the top of the second inning with a single run and then extended that lead with three runs in the top of the fourth. With an additional two runs before the end of the game, Ephrata won their second game of the tourney 6-0. 

Cale Fronsman started on the mound for Ephrata where he threw three strikeouts followed by Caleb Froewiss who threw one strikeout, Jaxson Uribe who threw one strikeout and Mayson Stredwick who threw two strikeouts. Combined, the Tigers’ pitching staff only allowed three hits. 

“Put together some really good pitching performances, shut them out again,” said Tempel. “Any time you can shut a team out in a tournament is kind of a testament to your defense and your pitching.” 

On Saturday afternoon, Ephrata faced a familiar opponent as Monarch Baseball Club battled their way through the consolation bracket to play for a chance at the championships. This game proved to be a strong defensive showing as both teams remained scoreless for the majority of the game.  

The Tigers closed out the game after a wild pitch from the Monarchs allowed C Iverson to score in the bottom of the seventh, giving Ephrata the 1-0 victory. 

Froewiss pitched all seven innings against the Monarchs where he allowed two hits and threw two strikeouts. 

“Caleb Froewiss threw an absolute gem, 75 pitches, 7 innings,” said Tempel. “Very clean defensively.” 

The championship game came Sunday afternoon against the Kittitas County Cowboys. The Cowboys got off to a strong start, getting two runs in the first inning, two runs in the third and three runs in the fourth while holding Ephrata scoreless. 

Ephrata climbed back into the competition with five runs in the top of the fifth with Mayson Stredwick and Andrew Rowlands drawing a walk, Caleb Froewiss hitting a fielder's choice scoring one run and Clayton Wolther singling to score two. 

The Cowboys extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth and added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Tigers worked to close the gap in the top of the seventh where they scored a single run but were unable to come back and fell 12-6 to Kittitas County. 

Fronsman, Wolther, Uribe and Stredwick pitched throughout the championship game and had a combined seven strikeouts thrown throughout the game. 

“In the championship we battled, we fought,” said Tempel. “Give credit to Kittitas, they took advantage of some of our miscues and some of our freebies, but the guys didn’t give up.” 

After the tournament concluded, Ephrata’s Mitchell Johnson was selected for the Tillage League’s All-Star team as a catcher. 

The coach said he was very proud of Ephrata’s performance during the summer. Their second-place finish was something he considers a huge jump forward in the team and baseball programs' development. 

There was a lot of personal and individual skill development throughout the season as players got more comfortable throwing more innings or playing in different positions, said Tempel. One of the biggest developments for the Tigers came from the consistent improvements in team chemistry. 

“I thought our chemistry and our culture improved throughout the summer,” he said. “It became more about the team, more about our collective group achieving, which I thought was great and you really saw that during our tournament.” 

Tempel said he was very proud of the overall commitment from the Tigers throughout the summer across all age groups.  

“Guys came to practices, guys came to the workouts, guys were there at the games,” said the coach. “We weren’t scraping together a lineup every night; guys were committed and that piece is fantastic.” 

Competing in the Tillage League this season was something he said was helpful in the players’ development during the summer. Over the course of the season, Ephrata faced multiple tough opponents and played in close games, which he feels showed the players where they needed to improve and helped them get better. 

The growth and excitement from the Tillage League this season have everyone excited for the future of summer baseball, said the coach. 

“There was a lot of positive feedback from the tournament and from the season,” said Tempel. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the league continues to grow next year, adding more teams, adding a few more events perhaps, but bringing back small school high school baseball again has been positive for our guys and for a lot of teams in the league.” 

Looking ahead, the coach said the experience from this summer season is going to help build on the program’s success in the future. The important part will be for the players to take some time to rest but find a way to keep improving their baseball skills in the offseason. 

“Obviously take some time for yourself and recharge but get back into the swing of things and swing the bats with your buddies, throw the ball around a little bit and continue to build upon those gains,” said Tempel. “When we do come back in March next year and we bring our other players back from the different teams that they played on, we’re able to hit the ground running and build on some of this momentum from the summer.” 

BOX SCORES 

FRIDAY:  

EPHT: 0-1-0-3-1-1-0: 6 

MLTN: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0: 0 

SATURDAY:  

MNRC: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0: 0 

EPHT: 0-0-0-0-0-0-1: 1 

SUNDAY:  

EPHT: 0-0-0-0-5-0-1: 6 

KCCW: 2-0-2-3-2-3-x: 12

    Tigers player Mitchell Johnson connects with the ball for a hit and prepares to take a run toward first base in the first round of the postseason tourney.
  

    Isaiah Davis from the Tigers stands on the mound ready to pitch during the first game of the Tillage League postseason.
  

    Ephrata’s Cale Fronsman catches the ball for a quick out against his opponent during the end of season tournament.
  

    Clayton Wolther from the Tigers Baseball Club gets ahold of the ball and gets ready to throw it back toward the mound.
  

    Owen St. Mary from Ephrata runs to first base in the postseason tournament for the Tillage League.