EPHRATA — Warden started its baseball season last weekend with a Friday loss to Freeman and a Saturday tie with Tonasket in the Johnson-O'Brien Classic hosted by Ephrata High School.

The Cougars started off decently Friday. Ryan Jorgenson brought in Warden's one run, but the team could not build enough momentum to win. Nine crucial errors also cost them heavily, coach Travis Visker said. 

Saturday went better for the Cougars against Tonasket Tigers with TJ Visker throwing six strong innings, leaving the game with the lead. Errors late in the game allowed the Tigers to come back in the last inning leading to a 6-6 tie. 

“We’re just knocking off the winter rust,” said Visker. “We also have a couple of first-time players.” 

This year the Cougars were able to bring up four eighth graders on the lineup: Roman Gonzalez, Bennett Leavitt, Demarques Valdez-Whitaker and Carson Burrer. 

“It’s good to get these guys started early,” the coach said. “I’m overall seeing good things from them.” 

Despite a rocky start to the season, Visker said he's still very impressed with the performance of the players. He highlighted Ryan Jorgenson’s four RBIs in the past two games and how both Kam Jensen and TJ Visker were able to pitch well Saturday. 

Visker said he expects the team to continue to improve as the season advances. 

“I think we’ll get better from here on out,” he said. “Everyone’s starting to come together, and I think we’ll have a strong season.” 

The Cougars’ next step onto the diamond at home against the La Salle High School Lightning for a doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

    The Cougars had a strong pitching game on Saturday against Tonasket. TJ Visker threw six innings that saw the team ahead through most of the game, but late errors across the team cost them the win.
  

    The Cougars started off the 2025 season with players from grades 8-12. Coach Travis Visker said he's been impressed with the eighth-grade athletes' ability to learn, adapt and grow so far this year.