Columbia Basin defeated Yakima Valley at home in a Wednesday double-header 14-1 and 5-1. Brayden Walls and Ambrose Driver earned wins in the effort with quality starts.

GAME 1

Facing off against second place Yakima Valley, CBC came to play and wasted no time getting started. Walls struck out the side in the 1st before the bats got hot for 4 runs. Alex Chamberlain, Caleb Eisenhower and James Lawrence all drove in runs. They scored 2 more in the second lead by an RBI single from Cole Rohlmeier but the big inning came in the 3rd when the Hawks scored 6 runs. Braiden Bond tripled home 3 runs with two outs with Rohlmeier bringing him home for the 12-0 lead.

Walls cruised through his 7 innings of work scattering 7 hits allowing just 1 one in the 5th inning while striking out 8. Lawrence and Eisenhower scored on a Yak error in the 6th for runs 13 and 14 for the 14-1 final.


GAME 2

Hoping to avoid a game 2 letdown, starter Ambrose Driver spun a gem. The freshman went 8+ innings giving up only 3 hits and 1 earned run after giving way in the 9th. Chamberlain got the Hawks on the board in the 3rd with an RBI single to right. Rohlmeier doubled with 2 outs that scored Chamberlain and Bond to make it 3-0.

Basin loaded the bases with 2 outs in the 6th with Caden Yesford drawing a walk for the 5th and final run of the day for Basin. Driver loaded the bases in the 9th with no outs but Branson Rozier was able to induce a fly ball to center for a sac fly but then rolled a double play to get out of the jam and close the door for the 5-1 final score.

CBC moves to 21-13 on the year (11-3 in conference play). They now hold a 2-game lead over Spokane who lost in Pendleton. They will travel to Yakima to return the double-header against the Yaks on Saturday as they continue their quest for a region title.