COULEE DAM – The Tonasket baseball team finished up a successful week in Coulee Dam with a doubleheader win against Lake Roosevelt on Saturday, April 18.
The two wins against Lake Roosevelt came after the Tigers played away against Oroville on Thursday, April 16, winning 17-0 in five innings.
“We played our best all-around game of the season so far,” Stephen Williams, head coach, said. “We made very few errors and the ones we did make did not cost us any runs.”
Tyler Monroe pitched for the Tigers, striking seven batters out swinging and one out looking. He didn’t have any walks and only hit one batter out of the 25 he faced.
“Monroe threw well for us again and our defense gave him great support,” Williams said. “Oroville actually put the ball in play quite a bit but our outfield did a great job cutting off the ball and hitting their cuts so they didn’t get any extra bases.”
Wade Detillian went 3-5 hitting, Josh McDaniel, Jeff Mahlke and Ty Thornton all went 2-2 while Matt Chartier went 2-3 hitting. Justin Dellinger, Cody Epps, Stephen Hulse, Corbin Mirick and Monroe had one hit each. Mahlke and Chartier each also stole one base.
“McDaniel led the game off with a solo home run over the left field fence and followed that the next inning with another solo shot in the same place,” Williams said. “Detillian hit the ball very well as did Epps and Mahlke. We are hitting the ball with much more power this year and we seem to be finding gaps for extra bases.”
Tonasket’s first game against Lake Roosevelt resulted in a 13-10 win after seven innings.
“We started right where we left off by hitting the ball hard,” Williams said. “Chartier hit a three run homerun in the first inning.”
Mahlke pitched for the Tigers, facing 27 batters. He struck-out four batters swinging and two batters looking. He walked five batters, hit three batters and allowed seven runs in. Thornton took over pitching then, facing nine batters. Thornton struck-out three batters swinging and allowed three runs in.
“Everyone seems to be seeing the ball much better and our hitting is improving,” Williams said. “The real difference is in our defense. We are making the plays that we should make and that will usually keep us in any game. Mahlke and Thornton teamed up to take care of the pitching duties and they both got the job done.”
McDaniel went 3-4 hitting while Chartier, Detillian, Epps and Mahlke each had two hits. Dellinger, Hulse, Moser and Thornton had one hit each. McDaniel stole three bases, Mahlke stole two and Epps stole one.
“Lake Roosevelt capitalized on some last inning mistakes and made the game close but the guys settled down and got the last outs to secure the win,” Williams said.
The Tigers’ won their second game against Lake Roosevelt 15-2 after five innings.
“We played better in the second game, I thought,” Williams said. “The hitting continued and so did the defense.”
Detillian pitched for the Tigers, facing 21 batters. He struck-out eight batters swinging, walked three and let in two runs.
“Detillian pitched well and it was nice to see his arm go all five innings,” Williams said. “I would expect him to continue to throw hard throughout the rest of the season. Eight strikeouts in five innings is nice to see. He has developed quite a nice curve and his velocity is right up there with some of the faster pitchers in the league.”
Epps led the team in hitting, going 3-4 while McDaniel went 2-2 and Chartier went 2-3. Mirick, Moser and Thornton had one hit each. McDaniel and Epps also stole two bases each while Dellinger stole one.
As of press time, the baseball team had not yet played against Manson on Tuesday, April 21 at home. On Saturday, April 25, the Tigers will play away against Cashmere at 11 a.m.
