Othello's Arcenio Martinez comes up big for the Riverdogs
Rodney Harwood Hagadone Newspaper Group | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years, 7 months AGO
Rodney Harwood/Hagadone Newspaper Group - Columbia Basin River Dog first baseman Abel Gomez of Othello takes a cut at a ball during his at-bat May 8 against the Columbia Basin Rockhounds.
EPHRATA — The Columbia Basin River Dogs opened the bottom half of the sixth inning with three straight hits, including a double by Joe Taylor and a 2-RBI single by Arcenio Martinez to blow the game open in Thursday night’s 13-2 victory over the Columbia Basin Rockhounds Senior Babe Ruth League action in Ephrata.
It’s early yet and both programs are still sorting things out, but they are starting to find the range.
“We have decent defense and some pretty good pitching. We’re starting to hit the ball a little better,” said River Dogs manager Randy Boruff, whose team played in the 2016 Senior Babe Ruth League World Series championship game. “Last year we had Hunter Boyd and the year before that we had Cam Walker, so we’ve had a real big arm on the mound the last two years in a row. But this year we have a pitching staff of six guys. We might be better balanced than we were last year. By the time July rolls around, we should be pretty good.”
The River Dogs (7-3) had two big innings on Thursday, taking a 7-0 lead with a four-run third and added four more in the bottom half of the sixth.
“We only have four guys returning from last year’s team, so we’re still getting used to playing with each other,” said Nic Lopez of Quincy, who played on the River Dogs national championship team in 2015. “The pitching staff is throwing well, but it’s going to have to be hitting and defense. Coach has already established that, so we’ll see what happens.”
Martinez, a former Othello Husky, scored three times and had two hits, including the 2-RBI single. Abel Gomez also had two hits.
The Rockhounds (5-6) dropped below .500 with the loss, but manager Tracy Robertson said he likes what he sees.
“We haven’t played a whole lot of games with each other so far this season. This is only our second weekend together, so we’re still moving guys around and trying to figure out some things,” Robertson said. “We were missing some key guys tonight, but I like what I see so far. Our goal is to win the state championship and get to the Babe Ruth World Series.”
The Rockhounds scored two runs in the sixth inning to cut into the lead, but the River Dogs led from start-to-finish.
Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for Hagadone Newspaper Group and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com.
ARTICLES BY RODNEY HARWOOD HAGADONE NEWSPAPER GROUP
Seahawks Fant and lfedi expected to make big strides this season
The 2016 season was a baptism under fire two rookies on the Seattle Seahawks offensive line. But they are hoping that experience will develop moving forward.
Huskie softball staves off elimination; on to state
OTHELLO — Othello senior Dominique Martinez had a chance to slam the door in the top of the seventh inning of Saturday’s CWAC/GNL crosser game with West Valley, but two uncharacteristic errors and a timely hit suddenly put the 2A defending champions behind the eightball when the Eagles regained the lead.
Cheney ends Othello's season on the Huskies home turf
OTHELLO — A black pickup truck sat in the dirt parking lot across from the north end of Husky Stadium. As people filed out, walked across Hemlock Street, and got into their cars and drove off, the truck was isolated, alone in its vigil.