Youth baseball and softball season kicks off with parade
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 hour, 50 minutes AGO
The Orioles prepare to move out for the annual Youth Day Parade in downtown Moses Lake Saturday.
MIKE MAYNARD/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
The Lady Mariners softball team rolls up Third Avenue in the annual Moses Lake Youth Day Parade Saturday morning.
A googly-eyed pickup carries baseball players down Fourth Avenue at the Moses Lake Youth Day Parade Saturday.
Softball players cheer as their trailer rolls through downtown Moses Lake at the Youth Day Parade Saturday.
The Pirates are suitably menacing with eyepatches and the Jolly Roger in the Youth Day Parade Saturday in Moses Lake.
The Starbursts are ready to play some ball at the Youth Day Parade Saturday in downtown Moses Lake.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | April 22, 2026 3:25 AM
MOSES LAKE — The youth baseball and softball season kicked off in Moses Lake with the traditional Youth Day Parade downtown Saturday morning.
The parking lots at McCosh Park and the Surf ‘n Slide Water Park were filled with pickup trucks and trailers, each decorated in team colors and bearing a team of eager young players from the Moses Lake Youth Baseball Association and the Columbia Basin Girls Softball Association. The parade wound down Fourth Avenue to Division Street, jogged north to head back up Third Avenue to Ivy Avenue, then returned to where they started.
“The object is just to get as many kids playing as possible,” said MLYBA vice president Leo Cortez.
The Lady Mariners softball team rolls up Third Avenue in the annual Moses Lake Youth Day Parade Saturday morning.
A googly-eyed pickup carries baseball players down Fourth Avenue at the Moses Lake Youth Day Parade Saturday.
Softball players cheer as their trailer rolls through downtown Moses Lake at the Youth Day Parade Saturday.
The Pirates are suitably menacing with eyepatches and the Jolly Roger in the Youth Day Parade Saturday in Moses Lake.
The Starbursts are ready to play some ball at the Youth Day Parade Saturday in downtown Moses Lake.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Youth baseball and softball season kicks off with parade
MOSES LAKE — The youth baseball and softball season kicked off in Moses Lake with the traditional Youth Day Parade downtown Saturday morning. The parking lots at McCosh Park and the Surf ‘n Slide Water Park were filled with pickup trucks and trailers, each decorated in team colors and bearing a team of eager young players from the Moses Lake Youth Baseball Association and the Columbia Basin Girls Softball Association. The parade wound down Fourth Avenue to Division Street, jogged north to head back up Third Avenue to Ivy Avenue, then returned to where they started. “The object is just to get as many kids playing as possible,” said MLYBA vice president Leo Cortez.
Piano students get expert guidance
MOSES LAKE — Forty-five Basin piano students participated in the Washington State Music Teachers Association’s Music Artistry Program March 27-28, according to an announcement from the association. “The students play two piano pieces, memorized or non-memorized, for the visiting artists,” said music teacher Harriet West, who had students participating in the program. “Then (the artists) write down comments and work with students at the piano.” The visiting artist was Dr. Fabio Menchetti, according to the announcement. Menchetti, a native of Lucca, Italy, is an assistant professor of piano at Washington State University. Menchetti has performed as a soloist with orchestras in Italy and the U.S., and regularly concertizes throughout the United States, both as a soloist and a chamber musician, according to his website.
Two dead after collisions near Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE — Two collisions left a driver and passenger dead on Road 3 Northeast near Moses Lake Sunday afternoon, according to Grant County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman. At about 4:45 p.m., the Washington State Patrol responded to a report of a hit-and-run collision on State Route 17 at the Stratford Road intersection, according to a statement from the WSP. An unidentified male driving a 2003 Toyota Corolla attempted to exit SR 17 at the same time as Savana R. Oliphant, 19, of Moses Lake. Oliphant was transported to Samaritan Hospital with injuries, and the unknown driver fled the scene with Grant County Sheriff’s deputies in pursuit.