TOPPENISH — The Ephrata Tigers (5-8) earned two dominating victories in Tuesday’s doubleheader on the road against Toppenish. At the end of the evening, the Tigers went home with 28-8 and 24-3 victories. 

“The girls have been playing phenomenally; they’re finally clicking, which is really cool to see,” said Tigers Head Coach Lesa Trevino. “They’ve hit a spot where they are knowing each other, having each other’s backs, but also knowing what everybody’s strength is.” 

The Tigers got off to a hot start as they scored 10 runs in the first inning and immediately followed with an additional eight in the second while holding Toppenish to one run. After a scoreless third inning, Ephrata got back on track with seven runs in the fourth and three runs in the fifth, while only allowing seven more Toppenish runs, closing out the game 28-8.

Dakota Durfee led Ephrata offensively, driving in five runs on four hits and hitting an inside-the-park home run in the first inning. Ella Piturachsatit had a successful game with six RBIs with five hits along with Cami Martinez who had four RBIs on three hits. 

Haley Trusty started on the mound for the Tigers allowing two hits and seven runs over three and a third innings, striking out two and walking six. Sidney Chornuk pitched relief to close out the game, striking out two batters. 

Ephrata had persistent dominance in the second game, putting up four runs in the first inning thanks to a homer from Bailey Falconer that brought home three runs while holding Toppenish to one. The Tigers went on to score nine runs in the second and five runs in the fifth while Toppenish went scoreless. 

The Tigers scored three runs in the fourth and three in the fifth and with two runs from Toppenish in the fourth, Ephrata earned a 24-3 victory. 

Martinez was the top performer offensively for the Tigers in game two, driving in eight runs on four hits. Both Durfee and Falconer followed with three RBIs each. 

“Our offense has been doing a really good job of staying simple and attacking early,” said Trevino. “The girls are competing at bats, and I think that’s been the biggest change for us so far.” 

Ephrata is now 4-0 in their last four games and have won each of the games by double digit margins each time. Alongside their success, the coach said there is still things such as avoiding mental errors that she wants her players to work on as they head into the final stretch of the regular season. 

“Our focus is continuing to compete every inning, limiting mental mistakes and playing clean defense,” she said. “I think if we stay on this level of defense and attacking early in the count we’re going to be right where we want to be at the end of the season.” 

Trevino said the Tigers have done a great job of having their one senior and two juniors working with and bringing up the younger players. Along with this, the seven starting freshmen have put in hard work and are getting a feel of what it’s like competing at the varsity level. 

“Those younger players, they’re grinders,” said the coach. “They want to put in the work, they’re excited to compete and I think them seeing it at this level is just exciting for them and I think that’s what actually pushes them to compete the most.” 

The Tigers return home Saturday to face Prosser in a doubleheader with the first game starting at 11 a.m. 

BOX SCORES

GAME ONE:  

EPHT: 10-8-0-7-3: 28 

TPPN: 0-1-1-5-1: 8 

GAME TWO:  

EPHT: 4-9-5-3-3: 24 

TPPN: 1-0-0-2-0: 3

    Ella Piturachsatit from Ephrata races against the ball toward first base during a previous game at home.
  

    Ephrata’s Haley Trusty prepares to swing at a pitch during a previous home doubleheader.
  

    Tigers player Cami Martinez throws the ball back toward the diamond during a prior home game this season.