Chiefs clobber Stadium to extend win streak to four
Jaime Vela connects on a lead off double in the second inning.
MOSES LAKE - It's difficult to not get overly excited during a young season.
However, Moses Lake head baseball coach Quintz Whitaker hopes to keep his team level headed after the Chiefs won their fourth game in a row Thursday against Stadium, 11-1.
"I kind of break the season down into groups of five," Whitaker said. "So that was our first five games and before we left the boys all said we're 0-0, we're starting over at this point because if we can take those five-game series and put them together to make the season then we'll see where we're at at the end of it."
Following an 11-0 shellacking of Mead on March 29, Moses Lake (4-1) took advantage of control issues by the Tigers and recorded its second straight 10-run final.
Stadium took a 1-0 lead after Jacob Hinkle hit an RBI single in the top of the second inning.
It didn't take long for Moses Lake to respond.
Jaime Vela smashed a lead off double. Blake Springer followed with a RBI single to tie the game. Erick Huberdeau legged out a bunt single and Ryan Pena singled to load the bases.
The top of the Chiefs ordered continued to take advantage as Brett Moser sprayed a two-run single to give Moses Lake the lead for good.
Vela finished with two hits and two RBIs while Moser drove in a game-high four RBIs.
As of late, the bottom of Moses Lake's order has been on a tear.
Vela powered the game-tying home run in Moses Lake's 6-4 win over Richland. Vela and Pena also combined for five hits during the Chiefs' 11-1 win over Mead.
"It's a tribute to these guys," Whitaker said. "We even have guys on the bench that I'm not afraid to go to. I made a change there to Jordan Lacelle, he comes in gets some swings after we just had Blake Springer come up and got a hit. But we're trying to do match ups and getting guys swings and I'm just real proud that those guys in the tail end they're doing exactly what they're being asked to do."
After giving up the lone run to Stadium, Kevin Cosper found his groove and pitched a solid five innings, allowing just three hits.
Cosper helped his own cause with a RBI single in the fourth inning.
Pena continued the scoring in the fourth with a sacrifice fly that scored Lacelle. Moser picked up his third and fourth RBIs of the day with a two-run single that pushed the Chiefs' lead to 10-1.
Moses Lake totalled 14 hits in the rout.
"We're piling together good at bats," Whitaker said. "Approach at the plate's been real solid for all the guys. I don't know how many guys had hits today, but regardless if we didn't get hits the bats look good, we're hitting the ball hard, our approaches are exactly where we want to be so we just got to carry this as long as we can."
Vela pounded a RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to score Moses Lake's 11th run and mercifully ended the contest after five innings.
The Chiefs now set their sights on the Columbia Basin Big nine, beginning on the road against Davis April 8.
Moses Lake enters league play with the best overall record, but will have to wait until the end of the season to test its mettle against reigning Big Nine and district champions Wenatchee.
"We're going to take care of Wenatchee when we get through to that point," Whitaker said. "Right now Davis is where we're set at for next Tuesday and we'll see what we get a few weeks after that."
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