OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies (22-4) concluded their season after suffering an 8-7 loss to the Selah Vikings in the quarterfinals of the 2A state baseball tournament Saturday.  

“It's always going to be good when you face a really good team,” Head Coach Sonny Garza said. “We knew it was going to be that way. Kids battled, played seven innings (then) had that rough (sixth) inning, there were too many free bases, that's kind of what killed us, and they got the one big hit, so it's tough to win when you give that many free bases.” 

The Huskies took the lead first in the bottom of the first inning before Selah tied the game in the top of the third. However, the Huskies responded with six runs in the bottom of that same inning, including a home run by RJay Garza to take a 7-1 lead. From there, the Vikings chipped away at the deficit before claiming the lead with a five-run inning in the sixth. Othello was unable to get home in the seventh, and Selah secured the comeback win. 

Othello hosted the state tournament for the first time in school history, with the Huskies playing Chief Sealth in the opening game and Selah facing Columbia River. The winners of those games met to determine who would advance to the state semifinals next weekend.  

Chief Sealth 

The opening round against the Chief Sealth Seahawks was a pitchers’ duel throughout the entire game. Neither team crossed home plate for the first nine and a half innings. In the bottom of the 10th, Cain Gonzalez got home on a sacrifice fly by Zayvier Olazcon to win 1-0. 

Keeping them in the game throughout was Xzyyvn Martinez who pitched a strong game for eight innings. He threw 72 strikes on 107 pitches, allowing four hits, zero walks, zero errors and struck out 16 batters.  

“My teammates really helped me out,” Martinez said. “We didn't have any errors. There was a play at home (in the) fifth inning where it's a drop third strike and the catcher throws it to first, and my first basemen gets them out at home, that's huge. That's defense, it's not just me. It took all 10 out there.” 

Garza was complimentary of Martinez staying composed in a tight battle at home.  

“He’s been the guy for us this year,” Garza said. “He's been hyped all week for this situation. He knew what was going to happen; he knew what was at stake. The kids were rallying behind him a little more, because we were here at home, and we had our fan base here, and we had a lot of people here for us.” 

From there, they awaited the result of Columbia River versus Selah to determine the quarterfinal game. After an 8-0 win, the Vikings earned the right to face Othello.  

Rivalry matchup 

Martinez got home first for the Huskies to give themselves a 1-0 lead. After Selah tied the game in the third, the Huskies offense found a rhythm.  

After another run by Martinez, Noah Ozuna also got home. Moments later, RJay hit a home run to left field that also scored Quade Gonzalez and Aaden Montes. Ryan Martinez closed out the third inning with a run to increase their lead to 7-1.  

From there, the Vikings slowly climbed back into the game. Down 7-3 in the top of the sixth, they strung together five runs to take an 8-7 lead. Othello could not mount a comeback and Selah sealed the win to advance to the semifinals.  

Historic season 

Despite a disappointing finish to the season, the Garza and the Huskies look back on the season proud of what they accomplished, including a league title and hosting a state playoff game for the first time in program history.  

“The kids had a great year, a lot of accolades, MVP, couple first team kids, couple second team kids, couple honorable mentions. That's always something to look back on and think like it's a good season. You don't ever want one game to really determine the outcome of the whole season. Obviously, we're not moving on, and that sucks, but we can't take away the fact that these kids played good all year,” said the coach.  

In the postgame huddle, Garza thanked the seniors for the contributions to the program and being a part of a key turning point in Othello baseball.  

“They're better people, that's the one thing we really focus on with them, is to try to build young men of good character, and that's one thing we kind of pride ourselves in, is when they leave our organization, we don't see them anymore, as we continue to hear good things about them,” Garza said.  

BOX SCORES: 

Game one:  

CFST: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0: 0 

OTHL: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1: 1 

Game two: 

SELA: 0-0-1-2-0-5-0: 8 

OTHL: 1-0-6-0-0-0-0: 7 

    An energetic RJay Garza runs past Heads Coach Sonny Garza after hitting a home run against Selah Saturday.
  

    The Huskies dugout clears after defeating Chief Sealth 1-0 in a 10-inning game to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2A state baseball tournament.
  

    Quade Gonzalez sprints toward first base after hitting a line drive into the outfield against Selah in the quarterfinals of the 2A state baseball tournament.