MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks (12-1) gained 9-3 a home victory Wednesday afternoon against the Selah Vikings in a non-conference matchup. Selah is one of the top teams from the Central Washington Athletic Conference, sitting second in their league rankings. 

“We’re super excited about getting a win against a super high-quality opponent,” said Mavs Head Coach Mike Hofheins. “They’re a solid club, they’re probably going to place at the 2A state tournament, which is exactly why we wanted to play them.” 

The game started close as both teams went scoreless in the first inning, but the Mavs got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning with a single from Charly Walker that scored a run. Moses Lake extended its lead in the bottom of the third with RBI singles from Caitlin Decubber and Samantha Kling to go up 3-0. 

Selah got on the board in the top of the fourth and tied the game up in the top of the fifth with two more runs. The Mavs regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a flyout by Amelia Borchert that scored a single run. 

After holding Selah scoreless in the top of the sixth, Moses Lake went on a five-run streak in the bottom of the inning with a dropped third strike, a steal of home, an error, a double from Alina Lopez and a single from Borchert scoring a run each. After another scoreless inning for Selah, the Mavs claimed a 9-3 victory. 

Starting on the mound for Moses Lake was Decubber, who pitched four and one-third innings allowing four hits, three runs and three walks while throwing two strikeouts. Avanie Avalos pitched the remaining two and two-thirds innings, throwing three hits and zero runs. 

Decubber also led the team offensively as she collected three hits in four at-bats in Wednesday’s victory. 

Hofheins said that playing a good nonleague opponent like Selah will be great preparation for the remainder of their push through league play and into the postseason. 

“To play quality pitching and quality hitting, that’s what makes you better, so that’s super good for us,” he said. “They’re a great ball club and I’m just super happy that we played well in all the phases.” 

This matchup was also a great reminder for Moses Lake about the importance of playing with confidence against quality opponents, said the coach.  

“To come in and play confident against a good team shows the maturity that we have with our seniors and their leadership, but they think they can beat anybody,” said Hofheins. “It’s pretty fun to coach.” 

With just a few more matchups before the start of postseason play, he said the main goal for Moses Lake is to just work on getting better in all aspects of the game. One thing he noted was that plays they are working on in practice are immediately translating into the following games, which is leading directly into the team’s success. 

“We’re just fine-tuning and come playoff time, the teams that compete and make the fewest mistakes usually win,” said Hofheins. 

The Mavs remain home this Friday to celebrate their seniors as they face the West Valley Rams in a doubleheader with the first game starting at 4 p.m.

BOX SCORE:  

SELA: 0-0-0-1-2-0-0: 3 

MLHS: 0-1-2-0-1-5-X: 9 

    Moses Lake senior Lila Johnson hits the ball Wednesday afternoon in a tough nonconference matchup against Selah.
  

    Mavericks senior Caitlin Decubber slams the ball deep into the outfield Wednesday afternoon.
  

    Samantha Kling, a senior from Moses Lake, sprints toward first base.
  

    Mavs senior Hayden Morris is all smiles as she steps up to bat Wednesday afternoon.
  

    Avanie Avalos from the MLHS gears up to hurl a pitch at a Selah batter during Wed