Cougars coach ends career with disappointment

MOSES LAKE — Saturday Colfax pitcher Kyle Morgan shut down Warden batters for a complete-game victory, limiting the Cougars to five hits at Larson Field.

The 6-4 Colfax victory knocked the Cougars (16-7) out of the 1A postseason tournament, dashing Head Coach Jerry Powell's hopes of ending his long career with a berth in next weekend's state championship in Yakima.

"I told (the team) this isn't how I wanted to end my career," Powell said after the game. "We just haven't hit the ball well going down the stretch."

The game was delayed for more than an hour due to rain.

The Cougars' starting pitcher, Rick Castillo, picked up his second loss of the season. The left-hander, who entered the game with a 1.01 ERA and five wins, came out strong.

Colfax scored five runs on five hits in the top of the third inning, taking Castillo out of his rhythm.

"He lost his composure," Powell said of his starting pitcher.

Castillo was able to complete the difficult third inning and get one batter out in the top of the fourth inning before Powell pulled him for right-handed reliever Fred Gutierrez. Colfax would only score one more run in the game, after Gutierrez took the mound.

On offense, the Cougars' slugger Edward Rodriquez, batting .633 with seven homers, added two singles in three at-bats to his season totals.

Outfielder Juventino Salinas hit a fly ball to centerfield for a double on his second at-bat, providing the only extra-base hit of the game.

Warden's first two runs came in the bottom of the first inning.

The right-handed Morgan hit both leadoff hitter Travis Matzen and shortstop Jorge Reyes. Morgan then gave up a single to Rodriquez, which loaded the bases with Cougars. Salinas drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly, followed by an RBI single by first baseman Kenny Guerra.

Morgan dug his way out of the jam by picking Guerra off at first base and striking out the next batter.

The Cougars would score two more runs in the fourth inning off Colfax errors, but were unable to generate anything on their own offensively.

A brief 2-hit, 1-out rally in the fifth inning for Warden was killed when Salinas grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Except for two hit batters in the first inning, Morgan maintained near-perfect command of his pitches. He consistently threw first-pitch strikes and kept his defense involved with plenty of ground balls. He utilized a curveball and a fastball throughout the contest. He struck out three Warden batters in the game.

Colfax's offensive lineup produced hits from seven different batters. Five different batters drew walks.

To generate runs, the Bulldogs got some help from Warden's defense, which made some costly errors.

The most critical mistake occurred in the five-run third inning — with the bases loaded, Cody Herman, the Bulldogs' leading batter, hit a chopper to Warden's third baseman who missed the ball. Two runners scored on the error, evening the score at two runs, and starting a rally that would generate three more runs.

Herman, who entered the game hitting .410, went hitless in the game, striking out once and picking up one walk.

For Warden, Reyes had a hit, a sharp single to centerfield in his final game as a Cougar.