Rasmussen’s Elite Start over Othello Gives Selah District Title Birth
Selah vs Othello was the matchup that no one expected.
Othello shocked many this past Wednesday with their 7-1 victory over East Valley in the district quarterfinals.
With that victory, the Huskies earned the right to play Selah in the district semi-finals. This match-up did not go as well for Othello, as Selah cruised to an 8-1 victory.
Despite Othello’s clutch win over East Valley, Selah starting pitcher Reid Rasmussen was not intimidated.
"We knew coming in that Othello can put the ball in play," Rasmussen said. "We had a full week to prepare for these guys, and we didn't try to do too much."
A pitcher's duel broke out in the first three innings between Rasmussen and Othello starter Jonathan Garza Jr.
Neither team could even muster a hit through the first three innings.
It wasn't until the fourth inning that Othello first baseman Jay Rodriguez lined a frozen rope into centerfield, scoring Josh Calzavillas from second base.
Suddenly finding themselves down 1-0 in a district playoffs game, Selah's bats came to life.
Eight Selah base runners would cross home plate in the fourth inning. The rally was highlighted by Dante Collett and Payton Andreas, who each had two RBI base hits.
After such a low scoring affair through much of the contest, the suddenness of Selah's rally left fans in attendance stunned.
"I didn't think we had good plate discipline in the first three innings," Selah Coach Mike Archer said."We were getting picked off, too many swings outside the strike zone; we had to get our emotions under control."
Othello would not score again for the rest of the game, leaving the bases loaded in the seventh inning to end the contest.
When asked what wasn't working for Othello at the plate, Coach Sonny Garza made it clear his team wasn't getting the job done.
"We weren't putting the ball in play," Coach Garza said. "Their lefty has really good movement, they weren't going to give us an inning."
Rasmussen's final stat line was five innings pitched, with one earned run on one hit.
Payton Andreas closed out the contest ,with two quality innings of shut out ball.
Following this district semi-finals win, Selah earns the opportunity to square off against Ellensburg next Saturday. And this time, the conference championship is on the line.
"We love playing Ellensburg, it really is a great rivalry," said Coach Archer. "They're well coached, and we'll both be ready to play."
First pitch is set for Saturday, May 12th at 1 p.m. at Ellensburg High School.