Ephrata falls in doubleheader against Aberdeen
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 4 months AGO
EPHRATA – The Ephrata Tigers fell to Aberdeen 0-10 and 1-4 in a home doubleheader Saturday. Ephrata head baseball coach David Tempel said some good things happened on the diamond, despite the loss.
“I think in the first game the big takeaway is even though we got down early we never gave up,” said Tempel.
Coach David Tempel said there were some bright spots in their first game. Defensively the Tigers had good positioning and were able to pitch and hit well, but Aberdeen was able to get ahead every time, he said.
Landen Stephens started on the mound for the Tigers, pitching 3.2 innings and striking out two. Ryker Linehan came on for 2.1 innings of relief, giving up no earned runs and striking out one.
Stephens also smashed a double in the bottom of the fourth and Cooper Vasquez added an infield single for the Tigers.
In the second game, Vasquez started on the mound for the Tigers, surrendering three earned runs over three innings while scattering four hits and striking out one. Caleb Froewiss then pitched two innings, striking out two and giving up no runs. Clayton Wolther finished up the game striking out one and giving up no runs.
At the plate, Wolther, Mitchell Johnson, Andrew Rowlands and Cale Fronsman hit sharp singles and Colin McDonell put up a double in the sixth inning.
“We outhit Aberdeen in that last game 5-4 and we squared some balls up so the bats are starting to come alive,” said Tempel. “I think the biggest thing is sticking with our approaches and getting good pitches to swing at.”
Tempel said he was proud of the team’s ability to have a lopsided game one and be able to bounce back and have a much cleaner game two.
“They were able to respond,” he said. “They showed a little bit of resilience which I thought was a huge step forward for us especially when it doesn’t go our way in the first game.”
The Tigers look to work on refining their approach to the plate making sure hitters stay aggressive at the plate even when they have two strikes. They also want to continue to keep throwing strikes and have the pitchers keep working on that confidence to throw any pitch in any count regardless of the batter, said the coach.
The Tigers' next opponent will be Selah, one of the leaders in the Central Washington Athletic Conference.
“It’s going to take an all-around team effort from pitching, defense, offense,” said Tempel. “They’ll be well coached and they’ll be ready to play and so will we.”
The Ephrata Tigers will play the Selah Vikings at home tonight at 5:30 p.m.
Ephrata Tigers Varsity Roster
Name, Jersey, Grade
Landen Stevens, 1, 11
Cooper Vasquez, 2, 9
Andrew Rowlands, 4, 10
Clayton Wolther, 5, 10
Tyson Thompson, 6, 12
Caleb Froewiss, 7, 10
Owen Coen, 8, 12
Tavone Mantese, 9, 11
Ryker Linehan, 10, 12
Ryder Mann, 11, 12
Mayson Stredwick, 12, 9
Kai Kaleohano, 13, 9
Elijah Davis, 14, 11
Cale Fronsman, 15, 9
Colin McDonnell, 16, 12
Mitchell Johnson, 17, 9
Casten Iverson, 18, 9
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