Columbia Basin downed Yakima Valley in a pair of Saturday games in Pasco by scores of 3-1 and 14-5.
Joe Pitts and
AJ Woodward logged wins in a dominate day from the righties.
GAME 1
With a log job atop the East region standings, CBC needed a pair of a wins to move into good position and they got both. Freshman
Joe Pitts was quality on the bump for the first game tossing 7 innings of 5-hit ball. He allowed just one unearned run while striking out 5. The lone run came in the 3rd for Yakima after a sac fly gave YVC a 1-0 lead.
Basin turned to small ball in the bottom of the 3rd using a few timely bunts to move runners around.
Alex Chamberlain laid down a suicide squeeze that
Lance Anderson was able to beat the throw to tie it up.
Hagen Bowen then singled in two runs with the bases loaded to give the Hawks the lead and the eventual 3-1 win. Pitts was able to use multiple double-play balls to steer around any challenge the Yaks presented.
Jake Robinson came on in a relief appearance to log the two inning save while allowing no hits and striking out 3.
GAME 2
Before taking the hill in the 2nd inning, Woodward was handed an immediate 7-0 as CBC jumped out ahead early when Yakima was unable to throw strikes early. The Hawk hitters chased starter Zaid Flynn who managed just 1 out on 3 walks 3 HBPs and a hit. Former CBC pitcher Francisco Lopez came on in relief for the Yaks and was greeted by a bases clearing triple from
Caleb Eisenhower to bump the lead all the way up to 7-0. From there, Woodward allowed just two hits on the day and gave up just two earned runs.
Basin was able to chase Lopez in the 4th after scoring another 6 runs off RBI singles from Bowen, Anderson,
Cole Rohlmeier and another double from Eisenhower. Yakima stayed in the game with 4 runs in the 6th but it was not enough as Rohlmeier scored the final run of the day on a throwing error in the bottom of the 6th.
Ryker Stevens and
Dylan Schlenger combined for 3 innings of no-hit ball as CBC cruised to the 14-5 final.
The wins help CBC remain just two games back of first place with a 4-game series coming up against 2-13 Walla Walla. They will start in Pasco on Wednesday at 1pm before traveling to Walla Walla on Saturday for the second leg.
