CBC primed for NWAC baseball tournament
The Columbia Basin College baseball team has had a long history of success in the NWAC.
The Hawks’ string of East Region titles proudly runs along the bottom of their scoreboard in center field. This spring, they get to add 2017, winning the title for the first time since 2012.
“It’s certainly nice to be on top of the East once again,” first-year CBC coach Brent Wyatt said. “We have plans on keeping it that way. The East Region is really tough. When we clinched (May 13), I told them we achieved one goal. The next one is the NWAC title. It’s nice to accomplish what you set out to do.”
The next step for the Hawks is the NWAC Tournament, which runs Thursday-Monday at Story Field in Longview.
CBC (34-13), which last won an NWAC title in 2006 under Scott Rogers, will face Tacoma in their first game at 9:35 a.m. Thursday.
“We split with them earlier,” said Wyatt, the East Region coach of the year. “The game we lost (15-14), there were things I hadn’t seen before. We came back from a 10-run deficit, and one inning where it should have been the third out, the ball went right through our first baseman’s glove. It came apart.”
The Hawks will open the tournament with Richland High graduate Hunter French on the mound. The 6-foot-3 right-hander is 9-1 this season with a 1.92 ERA.
“He’s our horse right now,” Wyatt said.
French, a first-team NWAC East All-Star, missed his last two starts with discomfort in his back, but he assured his teammates that he’s ready to go.
“It’s pretty nice,” French said of the start. “It’s getting back to 100 percent. I have had to work pretty hard to get to this point. A lot of guys have worked hard to get us here.”
The Hawks were hot the first half of the season. They opened the season 0-3, then won 12 of 13 to sit at 12-4 atop the East.
The second half of the season was a whole other ballgame. They split five of their last six doubleheaders — sweeping Wenatchee Valley on April 29.
“The first half was good,” Wyatt said. “The second half we were about .500. We were in first and everyone wants to play well against you. We were complacent. We took care of them the first time around, should be easy the second time. It’s not how it works.”
When the Hawks have their pitching, hitting and defense all on the same page, they have had success. The second half of the season, it’s been pieces and parts, but Isaiah Hatch has been consistent at the plate. As the lead-off hitter, he is batting .364 in 173 at-bats with 12 doubles, and 27 RBIs.
“He has been really good in the second half,” Wyatt said. “He has carried us.”
A sophomore from Decatur High School, Hatch said the extra year has helped his game.
“I learned a lot last year,” he said. “I see the ball better and I know what to look for when I go up there. We got hot early in the season, and we cooled off, but we are still the same team. It’s a grind.”
Another key component for Hatch has been Wyatt at the helm.
“We feel like like a family, not just a baseball team,” Hatch said.
WALLA WALLA: The Warriors (28-18), who boast several Mid-Columbia Conference players, will open tournament play at 12:35 p.m. Thursday against Linn-Benton (30-11).
Josh Kutzke (Kennewick), who is hitting .314 in 42 games, leads WWCC with 50 hits, 16 doubles and 31 RBIs, while Larry DeWitt (Kennewick) is hitting .274 with 46 hits, four doubles and 23 RBIs.
On the mound, 6-3 right-hander Jarrod Molnaa (Kennewick) is 5-1 with a 2.94 ERA.
This story was originally published May 24, 2017 at 6:16 PM with the headline "CBC primed for NWAC baseball tournament."