EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers Baseball Club earned a victory to start off their run in the Tillage League’s postseason tournament, winning 2-0 over Sunnyside’s Monarch Baseball Club. The game was a close matchup throughout with both teams playing at their best trying to stay in the winner’s bracket. 

“I thought it was a well played baseball game by both sides,” said Tigers Head Coach Ryan Tempel. “The Monarchs out of Sunnyside, they’re well coached, they’re very talented, and they pitched great today.” 

Starting off the first inning, the Tigers held the Monarch’s scoreless in both the first and second innings. Sunnyside’s defense held strong as Ephrata was also unable to score during this time.

The Tigers took the lead in the top of the third after Mitchell Johnson singled on a fly ball to score O St. Mary. Ephrata went on to prevent any scores from the Monarchs in both the third and fourth innings. 

Ephrata extended their lead in the top of the fifth after Isaiah Davis hit a sacrifice fly which allowed Caleb Froewiss to score. The Tigers held strong in the remaining innings, playing hard on defense and holding Sunnyside scoreless to claim the shutout victory. 

Davis started on the mound for the Tigers where he pitched five innings and allowed four hits while throwing four strikeouts. Clayton Wolther filled in the remainder of the game where he threw two strikeouts. 

“We had great pitching ourselves,” said Tempel. “Isaiah Davis was able to keep them at bay a little bit and keep them off balance and Clayton Wolther came in and shut them down.” 

Ephrata’s success in Thursday’s game was due to their ability to take advantage of mistakes made by the Monarchs alongside timely hits by the Tigers, said the coach. The competitive nature by both teams was on display throughout the entirety of the game. 

“It was a really well played baseball game,” he said. “Nice and crisp and that’s really what you want to see this time of year.” 

As Ephrata prepare to head on to compete in the next round of the tournament, Tempel said the focus for the team is to just never give up.  

This attitude to keep competing is something he said is exactly what he wants to see from his players as they play in the final games of the season. 

“It’s a testament to their work this summer,” said Tempel. “This summer we’ve had 17 practices and 17 games, so they’ve had 34 opportunities to work together and build that team atmosphere. It’s been great.” 

The Tigers will play 1 p.m. Friday afternoon for the next round of the postseason as they face Milton Freewater.

    Caleb Froewiss from the Tigers gets ready to make a run for home plate late in the game against the Monarchs Thursday afternoon.
  

    Tigers Head Coach David Tempel gathers his players on the mound to chat late in Thursday’s game against the Monarchs.
  

    Dayne Holland from Ephrata makes a catch in the outfield for an easy out against the Monarchs Thursday.