Mavs shutout Sunnyside in district tournament

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks (15-3) defeated the Sunnyside Grizzlies 16-0 in five innings of the play-in round of the 4A District 5 tournament Tuesday. For Head Coach Mike Hofheins and the Mavs, they couldn’t ask for a better start to the postseason. 

“It's great, you got to win to play again at this point, and we got the job done. We get to play again on Thursday, and that’s what we were after,” Hofheins said.  

The Mavericks jumped out to a commanding 8-0 lead in the first inning. Strong pitching by Caitlin Decubber and Avanie Avalos gave the Mavs more chances on offense, which allowed them to build on their lead. Home runs by Amilia Borchert, Hayden Morris and Mya Martinez provided a spark for Moses Lake, too. In just five innings, they secured the win to advance further into the district tournament.  

“We kind of knew going in that this was going to be a good game,” Borchert said. “We were going to just have to play and stay focused. Overall, we all did really well, and we were able to play our game.” 

The Mavs scoring frenzy in the first inning kicked off with a home run by Mya that also scored Morris. From there, Decubber, Borchert, Alina Lopez, Amaiah Martinez and Addi Reffett all got home as well.  

Helping the last two get home was Morris, who got to step up to bat once again after they worked through the batting rotation. A home run hit by her gave the Mavericks an 8-0 lead at the end of the first inning.  

After a short defensive outing, the Mavs returned to offense to build on their lead. Avery Getzinger, Reffett, Borchert, Amaiah added four more runs to their total. Another highlight from the second inning was a double play by Lila Johnson.  

The Moses Lake defense continued to hold their ground while the offense stacked more runs. With Decubber on base, Borchert stepped up to bat. With the crack of the bat, the dugout let out a unified gasp as the ball soared out of the park, increasing their lead to 14-0. 

“After you hit a few you just kind of know. But honestly, I heard them here chanting my walk-up song, and I thought it'd be really funny to hit a home run, and then I hit it out,” Borchert said.  

Even Hofheins questioned if the ball was still in one piece after that hit.  

“That ball was crushed, and she's had that in her all year. Most of her hits are lower than that, so they'd go off the fence. But that one, she elevated a little bit, and it was gone... everybody knew it,” he said.  

Morris and Johnson added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth before defense forced three outs to seal the win. After the win, Hofheins encouraged his players to keep the intensity up going forward and to give a little more than the day before. 

“You can't take anything for granted in the playoffs, anybody can bite you. We just have to be super intense, super focused, super intentional about what we're doing in practice so that we can take a step up and be that much better on Thursday,” Hofheins said.  

The Mavericks will host the Wenatchee Panthers Thursday at 5 p.m. If they win, they will play the loser of the district championship between West Valley and Eastmont for an opportunity to go to the 4A state tournament. 

Reflecting on Hofheins' post-game message, Borchert is confident in her team to deliver on Thursday.  

“We've all just been playing really well, and we've got a bunch of really great players on this team, and we all know we can play; we all know we can trust each other. If we keep our energy up and we just keep doing what we all know we can do, we're just going to do good, and we're going to go all the way to state,” she said.  

BOX SCORE: 

SNNY: 0-0-0-0-0: 0 

MLHS: 8-4-2-2-X: 16 

    The Mavs’ Caitlin Decubber (8) takes off for first base after hitting the ball into the outfield against Sunnyside on Tuesday.
  

    Amelia Borchert (16) knocks the dirt off her cleats before stepping up to bat against Sunnyside.
  

    Hayden Morris (2) jogs around third base after hitting a home run in the first inning against Sunnyside.
  

    Avanie Avalos (33) throws delivers the pitch against Sunnyside on Tuesday.
  

    Amelia Borchert (16) rounds third base while on offense against Sunnyside.