MOSES LAKE — The baseball circle of life in the Columbia Basin is a continuous cycle, with no beginning, no end, just an ongoing journey, depending on where you jumped on.

Make no bones about it, Moses Lake is a wrestling town, probably always will be. But it has had its share of baseball success, and the Moses Lake Chiefs and Big Bend Vikings have the ballparks buzzing again.

The Chiefs (17-4) return to the 4A state tournament for the first time since 2015 and will face Mead (16-6) in the 1 p.m. game at University High School in Spokane on Saturday. The Vikings (28-18) earned the No. 3 seed out of the NWAC East Region and a berth in the West Super Regional for the first time since 2002. The Vikings will face South No. 4 seed Chemeketa (17-27) in the 1 p.m. game on Friday at Minnitti Field, Tacoma Community College.

It’s not quite like the late 1990s where there were scouts in the stands watching the every move of BJ Garbe, Jason Cooper and Ryan Doumit, who all went in the top 63 of the 19991 Major Draft. But the baseball buzz is back.

Dave Heaverlo blew out of Moses Lake High School (1968) with a little spit and vinegar and nasty forkball that took him all the way to the big leagues. He honed his skills at Central Washington University and was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres in 1972, but couldn't get the deal signed. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants the following year.

Heaverlo spent just two years in the minor leagues before making his major league debut on April 14, 1975 for the Giants. His big league career included stints with the Oakland Athletics, where he was on Billy Martin’s staff, and the Seattle Mariners.

Heaverlo is a Columbia Basin guy, having played at Moses Lake High School and was the pitching coach at Big Bend when now Chiefs manager Donnie Lindgren was running the Vikings program.

It’s hard to say whether the evolution of baseball in the Basin started with Heaverlo, but he has seen his share of ball over the past four decades.

“Back in the ‘60s the emphasis was all on wrestling, like it is today. We had quality athletes, but it didn’t reach the magnitude it did in later years,” Heaverlo said.

Guys like Ray Pichardo and Ruben Garza helped the Chiefs win the 1981 state championship. In 1975, Rick Shelby, a first team all-Big 9 selection, set the Moses Lake High School career wins record with 19, surpassing fellow Hall of Famer Ron Groff (18).

And of course, Garbe, Cooper and Doumit put Moses Lake on the map in the 1999 MLB Draft where all three went in the first 63 picks, along with Heaverlo’s son Jeff out of the University of Washington.

The buzz is back with the recent success of Moses Lake and Big Bend baseball.

“I think the envelope is certainly sliding in a positive direction with what Donnie’s done at the high school and with what Jameson Lange’s been able to get done out there at Big Bend,” Heaverlo said. “I think an awful lot of credit has to go to Pete and Ryan Doumit. Ryan was a big league player and a lot of kids in the area probably got a chance to follow his career.

“Pete is a legend in this area. You look at all the Hall of Fames Pete is in, he’s a very solid baseball guy. With that, I think baseball is moving in the right direction.”

There’s not scouts in the stands just yet, but the baseball is generating an interest. The current skippers, Lindgren and Lange, are both in their first season as managers.

“The thing I will say about Donnie Lindgren is if you’re going to play for him, you’re going to know how to do the small things in winning baseball,” Heaverlo said. “He emphasizes running the bases the proper way. He teaches the fundamentals and I think that’s something that has been missing to a certain degree.”

Lange’s roots in Columbia Basin baseball run deep. He played for Lindgren at Big Bend and was an assistant on Pete Doumit’s staff for five seasons. He now has Ryan Doumit on his staff.

“Jameson’s a hard-nosed kid and as a player he didn’t take (bleep) from anybody,” Heaverlo said. “What he didn’t have in talent, he made up for in desire and work ethic. He knows the game. He can teach the game. I think Jameson, with the support of athletic director Mark Poth, is going to get Big Bend baseball back on the map. It’s a real bright future for Big Bend.”

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer at the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com