Columbia Basin defeated Pierce College to open up their 3-game series against the Raiders by a score of 3-1. Cameron Soliz went 7 strong innings allowing just 1 run on 2 hits for the Hawks.

With scorching temperatures all day, Pierce needed 11 innings to get by Skagit Valley in the play-in game to get to CBC. Once there, they ran into the buzzsaw that is Cameron Soliz. Pierce had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out in the 1st but after that, Soliz retired the next 17 batters.

CBC was slow to get going but did not have a lot a of swing strikes. They struck first in the 4th when Harper Huang singled in Gaven Mattson with 2 outs. The very next inning, it was Hayden Matray who singled up the middle to bring home Brooks Rasmussen to make it 2-0.

Soliz finally met some resistance in the 7th when Pierce lead off with a seeing-eye double down the first base line that just sneaked by the bag. A walk and another seeing eye ground ball down the line had the Raiders with runners at second and third with 1 run in and 1 out. Soliz was able to induce a soft ground out to end the inning and mitigate the damage.

CBC added another insurance run in the 7th on a ground ball that scored Wyatt Lizama from 3rd. Landon Webb was tasked with the final two innings and Webb was sharp. A couple of flyouts and Webb was out of the 8th. In the 9th, he was able to sneak a backdoor fastball in for the final strike of the game and the 3-1 win for CBC.

The Hawks now have 2 games to win one. They will take on Pierce again Saturday morning at 11am. Due to extreme heat conditions, the start time has been moved up an hour. If the Hawks win, they will advance to the NWAC Championships in Longview.