OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies (19-4) suffered a 5-1 loss at home to the Ellensburg Bulldogs in the semifinals of the District 5 2A tournament Saturday.  

“We got to be more aggressive at the plate and put the ball in play,” Head Coach Sonny Garza said. “That's ultimately what it comes down to... put the ball in play and make plays.” 

It was a defensive battle from the start, both teams going scoreless through the first five innings. However, pitching struggles opened the door for Ellensburg to execute multiple line drives and score five runs. Despite Quade Gonzalez scoring a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Bulldogs would hold on the rest of the game to upset the Huskies. 

“There are always big moments in the game that sway towards your side or sway towards their side, and when we were in those moments today, it just seemed like we never got it going for us. It was always for them,” Garza said. “We were doing something that wasn't helping us, or we were doing something that was helping them. In those moments, we have to be better to sway momentum toward us.” 

Aiden Garza started on the pitching mound for the Huskies and got off to a promising start. Before the Bulldogs five run inning in the top of the sixth, he allowed zero runs and struck out for batters.  

“It was a really well pitched game. Besides that (sixth) inning, you take that inning out Aiden threw well, he had that rough inning where they were kind of aggressive, and they put the ball in play, and the ball seems to find holes (in the outfield). When you swing and you put it in play enough times, the ball will find holes, but you have to put it in play to start, and eventually it'll find holes. That's kind of what they did,” said Garza.  

The Huskies offense had promising moments early in the game, including a double play by Aaden Montes. It was the first of two hits he earned while at bat. However, Othello struggled to get any more momentum on offense through the top of the sixth.  

After dropping five runs in the top of the sixth, the Huskies responded immediately with a homer by Gonzalez to open their offensive outing.  

“It's great to see him do that and try to get our dugout and our guys back into it. Great to see that from a captain and a guy who's done that for us all year,” Garza said. 

However, the Bulldogs defense did enough to prevent another run the rest of the game to seal the win.  

With the loss, the Huskies can still punch their ticket to the state tournament later this month. They will host third seeded East Valley at home on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. This time the stakes are higher as it is win or go home for both teams. After taking a brief pause, Garza explained what the Huskies need heading into that game.  

“High momentum... has got to be high. Every situation's got to be laser focused, and we got to execute,” he said.  

BOX SCORE:  

EBRG: 0-0-0-0-0-5-0: 5 

OTHL: 0-0-0-0-0-1-0: 1 

    After fielding a ground ball, the Huskies’ Aaden Montes (22) throws it to first base.
  

    The Othello Huskies Head Coach Sonny Garza watches on as Aiden Garza (2) throws his next pitch against the Ellensburg Bulldogs on Saturday.
  

    Trey Tovar (6) steps up to bat for the Othello Huskies during their district tournament game on Saturday.