The Ephrata High School softball team rolled over the Moses Lake High School squad in a 3-0 victory Tuesday as the Chiefs wrapped up their spring season.

The Tigers will close out their season Friday against Wenatchee High School.

Ephrata and Moses Lake were led by dominant pitching performances. Neither side allowed a run until the top of the fourth, when Kylar Heston scored off a single from Michelle Durfee to put Ephrata in front.

With the score still at 1-0 in the top of the seventh, the Tigers gave themselves a little bit of breathing room with a pair of runs in the top of the inning. Moses Lake managed to get a runner on base in the bottom of the inning, but couldn’t get any across the plate.

Ephrata’s Rylee Peters added another double-digit strikeout performance to her record this season with 14 strikeouts and just three hits allowed. Jocelyn Eisen, Peters and Michelle Durfee each notched an RBI.

Peters said after the game that she credits her teammates for her success on the mound this season as a senior.

“I owe it all to them, just having confidence to throw strikes knowing they’re going to be strong behind me. That’s what pitching is all about is having confidence in your team,” Peters said.

Peters gave a special shoutout to her catcher, Crystal Vela, who has had to step up and start calling pitches this season. With one doubleheader left on the season slate, Peters said she’s looking to pick up her bat a little more in the remaining games.

For Moses Lake, freshman Morgan Ross finished with seven strikeouts while allowing three runs off five hits. Taylor Hofheins, Raegan Hofheins and Ali Stanley picked up hits.

Moses Lake head coach Mike Hofheins said he can’t emphasize enough how proud he is of this senior class, not only as softball players, but as young women.

“They were dealt a pretty tough hand with last year and this year and then they got hit by the injury bug a little bit, but they never stopped competing,” Hofheins said. “I told them that’s what’s going to take them far in life. They’re just a joy to coach.”

Hofheins said he told his underclassmen that the bar has been set pretty high by this 2021 class. He tipped his hat to Ephrata’s Peters who pitched a gem of a game, he said.

“She plays with so much passion and she pitches with fire in her belly and it’s fun to watch unless you’re trying to hit against her,” Hofheins said.

This season’s adversity forced the Chiefs to put some younger players in key roles. Ross, a freshman, was forced into the number one pitching role and has improved and grown all season, Hofheins said.

Kendall Reffett, Raegan Hofheins, Stanley and Jazlynn Torres are just a few of the underclassmen that Hofheins said he’s confident will be key players after making their way into the varsity rotation. While most teams losing seven seniors would expect a step down the following year, Hofheins said he doesn’t think that’s necessarily going to be the case.

“We may not be the same type of team, we may not have the power we had this year, but our expectations are going to be, I’m hoping it’s a normal year, to win a league title and qualify for the postseason and that’s not going to change as long as I’m coaching,” Hofheins said.

Hofheins also discussed the rare opportunity as a coach and father to have not one, but two of his daughters on the field at the same time, Taylor and Raegan Hofheins.

“It’s been fun, Taylor has turned herself into a heck of a softball player and I think Raegan looks up to her and has a bright future ahead of her,” Hofheins said. “It’s been really cool. It’s definitely why we do it.”