Average Joes become Moses Lake lower division champs
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 months, 2 weeks AGO
The Average Joes celebrate their victory in the lower division by popping a bottle of champagne. The team ended last season 0-2 in the playoffs and turned around this year to take the championships.
CALEB PEREZ/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
The Average Joes celebrate their victory in the lower division by popping a bottle of champagne. The team ended last season 0-2 in the playoffs and turned around this year to take the championships.
Average Joes and OGs players come together to take a group photo to commemorate the final game of their season.
An Average Joes player prepares to throw the ball back toward the diamond during their first game against the OGs. The Average Joes entered as the number two seed in the lower division.
OGs Eddie Gonzalez pitches during the team’s first game against the Average Joes. The OGs entered as the number four seed of the lower division.
Ten Pin Brewts player Michael Sanchez bats during the team’s second game against the Dawgs. The Brewts entered the upper division tournament as the number four seed.
Smash player Gray makes a strong hit during the game against the Ten Pin Brewts. Smash entered the upper division tournament as the number four seed.
Isaac Valdez from the Dawgs softball team pitches during the team’s game against the Ten Pin Brewers. The Dawgs entered as the number one seed in the upper division and will play on Monday against the number two seed The Kids.
Average Joe’s player Juan Niebla makes a run for first during the team’s championship game against the OGs.
OGs player Bob Richardson swings at the ball for a hit during the team’s championship game against the Average Joes.
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Men’s softball league held division games Thursday evening at Paul Lauzier Athletic Complex. The lower division entered the championship round and the upper division decided who would play in the championships Friday.
“It’s just nice to get the buddies together,” said Nick Overland, the coach for the Average Joes. “It’s nice to interact with other teams, make new friends.”
The lower division championships came down to a doubleheader between the Average Joes and the OGs.
In game one, the Average Joes had entered with the advantage, needing just one win to earn the championships and the OGs needing to win this game to take it into a final tiebreaker game. The OGs would come out on top with a couple of key catches, giving them a 22-18 victory and one more chance to win it all.
The second game was another hard-fought battle. The Average Joes put up a strong performance at bat to win the second game 22-12 and become the champions of the lower division.
“We put this team together three years ago; we all came together,” said Overland. “We had some highs, some lows and came out on top.”
Average Joe player Juan Niebla said that the team went 0-2 in the playoffs in the year prior, which made it feel even better to come back this year and become league champions.
“It’s a good feeling, and it’s nice to know that we can pull it off,” he said.
On the neighboring ball field, the upper division had three teams play to determine who would face off against The Kids, who currently sit on top of the bracket. The first game of the evening was between Smash and the Ten Pin Brewts.
The Brewts ultimately came out on top and would go on to face the Dawgs, who had dropped down after losing to The Kids last Tuesday. This game would come down to the wire as the evening turned into night.
Ultimately the Dawgs would best the Brewts sending them into the championship game. The Dawgs will again face The Kids this evening at Lauzier Athletic Complex with the first game starting at 7:30 p.m.
The Average Joes celebrate their victory in the lower division by popping a bottle of champagne. The team ended last season 0-2 in the playoffs and turned around this year to take the championships.
Average Joes and OGs players come together to take a group photo to commemorate the final game of their season.
An Average Joes player prepares to throw the ball back toward the diamond during their first game against the OGs. The Average Joes entered as the number two seed in the lower division.
OGs Eddie Gonzalez pitches during the team’s first game against the Average Joes. The OGs entered as the number four seed of the lower division.
Ten Pin Brewts player Michael Sanchez bats during the team’s second game against the Dawgs. The Brewts entered the upper division tournament as the number four seed.
Smash player Gray makes a strong hit during the game against the Ten Pin Brewts. Smash entered the upper division tournament as the number four seed.
Isaac Valdez from the Dawgs softball team pitches during the team’s game against the Ten Pin Brewers. The Dawgs entered as the number one seed in the upper division and will play on Monday against the number two seed The Kids.
Average Joe’s player Juan Niebla makes a run for first during the team’s championship game against the OGs.
OGs player Bob Richardson swings at the ball for a hit during the team’s championship game against the Average Joes.ARTICLES BY CALEB PEREZ
Basin teams compete in round of 12 at state
MOSES LAKE — Five teams from the Columbia Basin are competing in the state tournament this week, with three of those teams competing in the Round of 12 across the 1A and 1B tournaments in Yakima and Spokane. See the results of Royal and Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School’s boys teams below.
BASIN SPORTS SCHEDULE: March 4-7, 2026
COLUMBIA BASIN — The high school basketball season is wrapping up this week as the final teams from the basin go on a run for a state championship. Check out how the bracket is churning out in the next few rounds of the state tournament.
Cougars wrap up season in state tourney
WARDEN — The Warden Cougars boys basketball team concluded their season Feb. 27 in the opening round of the 2B state tournament after falling to Adna in Tumwater. Despite the loss at state, Head Coach Brent Erdmann said the team had a very successful season. “Very proud because these boys worked so hard, and we’re not your typical group of basketball players,” said Erdmann. “We haven’t been a basketball town in Warden, and I think just getting into state, we might have some kids that are hungry and we can do something next year.”