Chase Oldham’s Gem Leads East Valley past Othello 3-0

After outscoring their opponent's 40-10 in the past five games, East Valley was ready to prove themselves against undefeated Othello.

Red Devils ace Chase Oldham took the rubber in East Valley's first marquee match-up. And he would go on to carefully dissect Othello's line-up.

The strikeouts would pile up into the double digits, as it took Oldham only 84 pitches to complete the shut-out.

"My off-speed pitches we're working really well," said Chase Oldham, "(Othello) was getting out early, and they weren't making the adjustments.

Two of East Valley's three runs came in the first inning.

On the very first pitch of the game, lead-off hitter Nate Uriostegui got pegged in the back.

The next batter, Chase Oldham, would proceed to line a fastball to the warning track, where he was able to leg out a triple. This scored Uriostegui from first.

"I always try to think extra bags when I hit it, and coach just kept waving me around," said Chase Oldham on his triple.

The closest scare for East Valley came in the fifth inning.

Othello had runners on 1st and 3rd with two outs, and their power-hitter Josh Garza at the dish.

A high junk breaking ball buckled the knees for strike 3, deflating any hope of an Othello comeback.

"He was mixing two pitches for strikes the whole game, and most importantly, he was consistently getting ahead in the count," said East Valley Coach Jesse Benedetti.

A notable performance at the plate for East Valley was catcher Max Hagler. He finished 2-3 with 2 RBI.

It's worth noting that several of East Valley's key players are either not playing, or not at 100% right now.

6-7 Walla Walla commit Shane Maybee has been sidelined with a leg injury, and will be out for another couple weeks.

Center fielder Zach Himes has been cleared to play in the field, but is not yet allowed to pitch.

"It really is a next man up approach," said Coach Benedetti, "A lot of young guys are seeing time, and that's going to help us later on this year."

There is high confidence that all players will be healthy by the time mid-April rolls around.

They will need them all, as they run the gauntlet during that stretch with Selah, Ephrata, and Ellensburg.