MOSES LAKE – Hosting the Columbia Basin Big 9 district championship, the Moses Lake Mavericks lost to West Valley (Yakima) in the district title game 20-11 before defeating Davis 18-2 and advancing to the 4A state tournament.

“That first game was disappointing,” Moses Lake head coach Mike Hofheins said. “You got to give credit to West Valley, they came out swinging. They just had hit, after hit, after hit.”

The Rams certainly did come out swinging as Hofheins said, scoring five runs in the top of the first inning on RBIs by senior Haley Betterton, sophomore Maris Barbee and senior Sam Ostriem. Moses Lake answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the second with RBI singles by junior Emmie Olsen and senior Jadelyn Balderas to make it 5-2.

“When a team’s hot like that, that’s the kind of game you have to win 21-20,” Hofheins said. “Our bats weren’t hot.”

The top of the third inning saw West Valley extend their lead to 11-2, but runs in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Moses Lake freshman Ava Swett, senior Ali Stanley scoring on a passed ball and senior Marissa Cohee scoring on a fielding error made it 11-5.

“The girls, they like to compete,” Hofheins said. “They got a little sour taste in their mouths after that West Valley loss, so hopefully they’ll bring a little fire and we’ll see what happens.”

The Mavericks were able to add on runs in the fourth with hits by sophomore Paige Richardson and junior Mikayla Schwartz to cut into the lead, but West Valley once again poured on more runs in the sixth and eventually took the game, and the district championship, 20-11 over Moses Lake.

“I still like our chances to win (state),” Hofheins said. “I said that at our first practice, I think we have the team that can take it all, and it’s still out in front of us.”

Despite the loss, the Mavs still had a chance to advance to state in their matchup against Davis. With the Pirates scoring two runs in the top of the first, the Moses Lake bats popped off for nine runs in the first three innings. Seniors Piper Bradshaw, Katelyn Kriete and Stanley along with junior Morgan Ross, Olsen and Swett all had RBIs through three innings.

The batting streak continued with RBIs by Ross, Olsen, sophomore Jenika Balderas, Stanley, freshman Amilia Borchert, Richardson and Kriete all in the fourth inning to give the Mavericks an 18-2 lead. With the Pirates unable to cut into the lead in the top of the fifth, the game was decided in Moses Lake’s favor.

“It’s tough losing the first game to a team that you’ve already beaten, but just being able to come back from that and pound (Davis) after that is what softball’s all about,” Stanley said. “You have to flip your mentality from a losing mentality to a winning mentality. Just being able to bounce back from that is really important.”

Now, Moses Lake heads to the Gateway Sports Complex in Yakima for the state tournament. The full bracket was not made available in time for press deadline, but games begin at 10 a.m. on Oct. 28.

“The goal is to get there,” Hofheins said. “Now, we did that, and everybody has a clean record. What you did before doesn’t matter – the lowest-seeded team with the worst win-loss record could go in and win the whole thing. It’s a clean slate for everybody, and it’s gonna be whoever’s playing well.”

Stanley said that the team will focus on staying together as a unit ahead of state competition.

“Just being able to stay together and building our focus,” she said. “And our hitting, it’s very important. Being able to just stay together as a team, not just individuals. All together, focused and redy for the next challenge we have.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.