Columbia Basin defeated Tacoma in a pair of games on Sunday in another spectacular pitching performance.
GAME 1:
Freshman
Ian Hughes took the ball in game 1 and turned in another quality start for the Hawks. He was placed on a restricted pitch count but still managed to go 5.1 innings while striking out 12 and allowing just 1 seeing eye single. Both Hughes and the Tacoma starter controlled the zone the entire day as both teams struggled for hits.
In the 6th, after giving up a pair of walks, Hughes handed the ball over to
Ethan Petty who was tasked with getting out of the jam. Petty was able to get a quick out on a fielder's choice at second. Tacoma then attempted a 1st and 3rd steal to try and snag a run but the Hawk infielders were able to tag the runner at 1st out before the run could score.
After a lead off double by
Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the 7th,
Hunter Tiffany was able chop a ground ball in the hole that he legged out as Rodriguez scored for the only run of the game.
In the 9th, reliever
Dylan Berry worked himself into a bases loaded jam with no outs. He remained unfazed and proceeded to strike out 3 Titans in a row with an array of quality pitches for the save and the 1-0 win for CBC
GAME 2:
While Game 1 came down to the wire, Game 2 saw the Basin hitters make up for lost time. Right out of the gate in the 1st, CBC tagged Tacoma for 5 runs.
Nick Grade,
Steven Meier and Tiffany all singled in runs for the early lead. Starter
Josh Aribal had moments where he looked as if he had lost command of the zone but he was able to go 5 innings and gave up just 2 runs on a defensive miscue in the second.
Again, the Hawk bullpen was effective for most of the day. This game it was
Kyle Baumgardt and
Cameron Soliz who combined for 3 innings run-free baseball with each of them striking out a pair. The only blemish on the day came in the 9th with
Ryker Stevens suffering some bad luck around the zone and a few softly hit singles that lead to 3 Tacoma runs.
Jaxon Henderson was able to come in on emergency relief for back-to-back strikeouts to end the day for Tacoma with the 10-5 final.
The wins push Columbia Basin to 6-0 on the year so far with a non-league double-header vs. Walla Walla scheduled for Monday. Walla Walla dropped both games to Tacoma at CBC on Friday.
