OTHELLO — For Cle Elum-Roslyn it was a chance to see grass for the first time this season, and for Othello and Warden, Tuesday's jamboree at Othello was a chance to dust the rust and kick start the competitive juices, because it all gets rolling this week

Warden beat Othello 7-1 and Cle Elum-Roslyn 5-4 in a couple of three-inning scrimmages that came in just before the darkness and the weather rolled in.

The Cougars split, beating the Warriors, whom they'll see again on Thursday in the season-opener, 4-2. In fact, the twin bill scheduled at Cle Elum-Roslyn will be played at Warden instead of Cle Elum, so the Warriors will make the quick turnaround and the two 1A teams will do it all for keeps on Thursday.

“It was nice to get the rust off and play against somebody else,” Warden coach Wes Richins said. “The only bummer was that our third baseman (Jocelyn Chagoya) suffered a knee injury. Hopefully, it's not to serious.”

Chagoya turned on a fastball and drove it foul down the left field line, then went straight to the ground when her knee buckled when her cleat got tangled with the edge of the plate. Other than the unfortunate circumstances with their power hitter, it was a good day for the Cougars. Jizelle Pruneda had a solid day in the circle, working a nice pitch selection with control. The Warden defense played sound and the hitting is catching up.

Cougars lead-off hitter Aaliyah Escamilla had a single and a double in the opener and is seeing the ball well in the early going of the season.

“My job as the lead-off hitter is to get on base, but I like to hit the ball to get there,” she said. “We've played a lot together, so this was a chance get to get going. I think we have a real good chance of taking (the SCAC East) it.”

The Othello Huskies are coming off a 2A state-qualifying season with more questions than answers. Tuesday was a chance to see what the young squad could do under fire.

“We have a bunch of young girls, so we all have to get our game up a little bit,” pitcher Audisey Sauceda said. “The big thing we have is attitude. The biggest challenge this year is playing with confidence. We have the skills, we just need to believe in ourselves.”

Othello Huskies

A year ago, the Huskies had to slug their way out of the CWAC, then play a cross-over game to get to the state tournament. Could be they'll have to do the same thing again this year, having lost five key players to graduation, including pitcher Dominique Martinez, who's now pitching at the University of Hawaii.

But as is Othello tradition, it's the next girl up and the young bunch will meet the challenge, said long-time Huskies coach Rudy Ochoa.

“I think our leadership this year will come from Audisey. We also have a freshman catcher who is very good,” Ochoa said. “The umpire today was saying she was talkative and hollering out things to the defense, so I was happy with the way she stepped up.”

The Huskies produced runs in bursts in both contests and showed a bit of both quickness and power with three consecutive hits by Emily Garza, Audisey Sauceda (2 RBI) and Breanna Martinez (RBI).

“We have quite a few freshmen and sophomores. We have a good class of seventh and eight graders coming, so we'll have to get ready to compete in every game because we're so young,” Ochoa said. “Our team speed is not too bad. We have two slappers right now. So we'll see.”

Othello hosts Ephrata on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.

Warden Cougars

The Cougars return almost all of its starting lineup from a year ago and Richins is hoping to cash in on their confidence.

“We have a couple of solid pitchers in Jizelle Pruneda. Leanne Martinez is our No. 2 and she throws pretty well,” Richins said. “We have everybody back, but we're not very deep. We've put a lot of time in during the summer, both in-and out-of-season getting our reps in.

“For some of these kids, (softball) is all they do. We're playing with confidence and we're hoping our hard work pays off.”

Warden opens the season at home against Cle Elum-Roslyn on Thursday. The first game begins at 3 p.m.