RICHLAND - A great start and not-so-wonderful finish to a Tuesday of baseball action added up to one thing for the Moses Lake Chiefs.

With a win on Saturday they will indeed be a participant in the Class 4A state tournament.

That's because the Chiefs won their second consecutive loser out opener in playoff action with a 5-0 win over Mead in the 4A GSL/CBBN Sub-Regional before dropping a 14-0 decision to Big Nine rivals Richland later in the day.

Moses Lake (10-16) now faces host Ferris at noon on Saturday for the third and final state berth out of the field.

Ferris lost to Chiefs rival Walla Walla 12-0 in the other regional semifinal.

In the win over Mead, Nick Laszlo continued his strong run of form as he threw a commanding four hitter and got enough early offense to buckle down for the all-important win.

"These guys have faced some loser out situations and these guys have stepped up every time," Moses Lake interim head coach Quintz Whitaker said. "It starts with the defense backing Nick up and not making errors. He had confidence and the defense had confidence. He gave up one chopper in the first inning and then not another hit again until the sixth inning. He was doing a great job getting his first pitch over. He was getting ahead of guys and making them swing at his pitches."

The Chiefs kick started their mission to advance with a four-run first inning and added another run in the second frame. Despite only knocking out five hits throughout the game, the Chiefs were benefitted by the strong start and, "we got the first two guys on on walks and then the next two off of hit batters so they gave us a couple early," Whitaker said. 

Kody Samuels then belted a single with Moses Lake up 1-0 to double the margin and Matt Noyola singled in two more runs to make it 4-0 after one at bat.

"Getting off to a good start in a high school game helps you be the aggressor and take a more aggressive mentality," Whitaker said. "It allowed us to relax and have some good at bats. We got guys on base in six of seven innings but we couldn't get the runs across toward the end."

The day didn't end as strongly as it began as Richland took it to the Chiefs.

"When we did get the ball in play we didn't make the plays," Whitaker said. "The defense has to be sharp. If we want to go where we want to go we have to beat a team like Richland. I don't think our guys were ready to beat then today. Hopefully we get another crack at them at the end of the season."

Whitaker's troops will face a Ferris team also coming in off of a tough loss despite being the Greater Spokane League's regular season champion.

"We're playing again on Saturday and that's all you can hope for," Whitaker said. "I think we will take the same approach we have had. This is our fourth loser out type situation and we aren't going to change. We will battle on every pitch. It's been working or otherwise we would be home by now. The guys know how to play in these kind of ballgames."