MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks (14-4) extended their win streak to four Tuesday, as they swept the Eisenhower Cadets 21-0 and 22-3 at home. The Mavs are building momentum in a busy final week of the regular season.  

“I'm super proud of the way (we played), this week's a grind with three double headers,” Head Coach Mike Hofheins said. “This is a tough grind at the end of the season, but I'm glad we scheduled that non-league game because I think it keeps us sharp.” 

After sweeping the Walla Walla Blue Devils 8-3 and 19-11 on Monday, the Mavericks carried the momentum from those victories and put together a dominant performance. Game one saw strong batting and seven runs in the first inning. From there, their high-powered offense and strong pitching earned them a shutout win over the Cadets.  

Game two provided much of the same for the Mavs, putting up 16 runs across the first two innings to Eisenhower’s three. Moses Lake put up three runs in the third and fourth innings while shutting down the Cadets offense to seal the doubleheader sweep on Tuesday.  

“We knew that if we played well, we should do pretty well against Ike,” Hofheins said. “It's hard, but I think that we got a lot of girls in the game and made some solid contributions from everybody on the lineup card, really. We're at a point in our season where we’ve got to keep taking steps forward and be ready for the postseason.” 

Game one 

The Mavericks were sharp at the plate, with players like Ely Vela, Alivia Boyer, Mya Martinez, Kennadee Lyons and Charly Walker earning multiple hits and runs. Walker and Boyer each had five RBI’s, helping to get their teammates home while building a commanding lead.  

Mya continued to be an explosive leadoff batter for the Mavericks, hitting a home run to open the bottom of the second inning.  

Amelia Avalos pitched all five innings, only allowing three hits, one walk, no runs and striking out four batters. She threw 68 pitches, 40 of them strikes.  

The Mavericks' well-rounded effort was strong enough to seal the game within five innings. 

Game two 

After the Cadets showed promise on the top of the first inning with two runs, Moses Lake responded swiftly with eight runs by Aliana Deleon, Josie Carlstrom, Avery Getzinger, Amaiah Martinez, Vela, Lyons, Amelia and Boyer.  

The Mavericks continued to build their lead with another eight runs in the second inning to take a 16-3 lead. The deficit proved insurmountable as they added six more runs across two innings while holding the Cadets scoreless the rest of the way.  

Amelia led the team in RBIs with five while Lyons (3), Mya (2) and Boyer (2) also contributed to building the lead.  

The bats took another step in this game as well, as Deleon, Walker, Vela, Lyons, Mya, Julia Balderas and Jenna Baker each hit a double Tuesday evening. Amelia built on her strong performance in game one by adding a homer to her stat line in game two.  

Avanie Avalos took the reins in the pitchers circle, allowing seven hits, three earned runs while striking out three batters. She threw 48 strikes on 84 pitches.  

The defending state champions have had their lumps this season; however, Hofheins feels this team has responded the right way.  

“We're young and we're not a senior dominated team like other years, and we're growing and becoming obviously less young every time out,” said the coach. “I see it starting to pay off. I think back to three or four weeks ago, and I feel like we have more confidence in what we're doing. That's the growing pains, and hopefully, by the time we get to the postseason, we're in a good spot.” 

The Mavericks close their regular season on the road Thursday, when they travel to play the Wenatchee Panthers. While they know they’re in the district tournament, where they’ll be playing remains to be discovered as fellow top-leaguers West Valley and Eastmont will face off on Thursday. The outcome of that matchup may determine how the schedule ultimately shakes out.  

In the meantime, Hofheins and the Mavs are focused on taking care of business on their end.  

“If we just hit and play defense and base run like we know we can, I think we're going to be in good shape there,” he said. “It's turf, so that's a little bit new, we should be fine. These girls have all played on turf in various places in fastpitch and whatnot. That's really the only thing that'll feel weird – first game on turf for the year.” 

BOX SCORES: 

Monday: 

Game one 

WLLA: 0-0-0-1-1-0-1: 3 

MLHS: 0-0-4-0-3-1-X: 8 

Game two 

WLLA: 3-4-0-1-0-2-1: 11 

MLHS: 11-0-0-1-3-4-X: 19 

Tuesday: 

Game one 

ESNH: 0-0-0-0-0: 0 

MLHS: 7-6-6-2-X: 21 

Game two 

ESNH: 2-1-0-0-0: 3 

MLHS: 8-8-3-3-X: 22 

    Alivia Boyer (21) turns to throw the ball to first base after fielding a ground ball against Eisenhower Tuesday.
  

    The Mavs’ Mya Martinez (22) throws the ball to first base to throw out an Eisenhower base runner.
  

    The Mavericks’ Isabella Suarez (27) takes off for third base against Eisenhower Tuesday.
  

    Ely Vela (1) sends the ball into the outfield against the Eisenhower defense on Tuesday.