By Al Camp
Chronicle staff

     A 16-day stretch in which Okanogan High School’s baseball team went 2-7, capped by Lake Roosevelt sweeping the Bulldogs, proved to be a wakeup call.
     Like cold water on the face, Okanogan awoke just in time last Saturday, May 3, to blow past Lake Roosevelt 20-8 in a playoff game and dispatch Colfax 9-4 in a district play-in game.
     Okanogan was scheduled to open district play against No. 1 seed Brewster at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, at Eastmont High School.
     The winner of the game plays the winner of the Omak and Lakeside game at 4:30 p.m. at Eastmont the same day.
     The loser plays the loser of the Omak and Lakeside game in a loser-out game at 4:30 p.m. at Wenatchee High School.
     The Raiders shocked Okanogan by taking a season-ending doubleheader 6-3 and 15-9 (called in the sixth due to darkness) May 1 on the Bulldogs’ field.
     Had Okanogan won either of the games it would have sealed fifth place and a play-in game at Colfax.
     Instead, the wins elevated Lake Roosevelt into a tie with Okanogan for fifth place, necessitating a five-inning playoff May 3 at Ephrata.
     “Maybe our level of concentration was not where it should have been,” said coach Kevin Daling of the cold stretch. “If you can figure out kids you could really make a lot of money.”
     Throughout the games last week there were several constants.
     Jake Suder turned into a ball magnet, getting hit six times - four in one game.
     Casey Cardenas (11-16) proved to be a hitting machine.
     Lake Roosevelt entered the must-win doubleheader on a hot streak. After opening the season 1-9 the Raiders went 5-2 with a split against Omak and Chelan followed by sweeps over Tonasket and Okanogan.
     In the first game, the teams were tied at 2-all before Lake Roosevelt pushed across four runs in the fifth.
     Okanogan was limited to four hits and could not take advantage of six hit batters and five walks.
     Suder took the brunt of the hit-by-pitches assault, being plunked four times.
     Okanogan pitchers walked five as only three of Lake Roosevelt’s runs were earned. The Bulldogs committed three errors.
     Hitting: Casey Cardenas 2-4, double; Jordan Bradley 1-3; Zach Chiles 1-4. Jake Suder 0-0, 4 hbp.
     In the second game, Okanogan fell behind 5-0 after the first inning.
     After Okanogan went ahead 9-5 after four innings, Lake Roosevelt started flying around the bases for nine runs in the sixth.
     Hitting: Casey Cardenas 4-4, Jason VanderWeide 2-4, Ruben Rodriguez 1-4, Zach Chiles 1-3.
     The playoff game was scheduled for Ephrata, a shorter drive than to Colfax. The Whitman County Bulldogs would have to travel to Ephrata to play the district play-in game.
     In the playoff with Lake Roosevelt, Okanogan took care of business by taking a 4-2 lead after three innings before pushing across 10 runs in the third and six more in the fourth.
     “It was almost like two different teams for us, probably for Lake Roosevelt, too,” Daling said. “We were real happy for our kids to come back and win the one that mattered.”
     Pitching only five innings (the slated length of the game) helped, too, with Okanogan able to use the same arms against Colfax.
     T.J. Gilman (three innings, two strikeouts, no walks) and Jason VanderWeide (two innings, six runs only that were earned, two strikeouts, no walks) shared pitching in the first game.
     Lake Roosevelt walked five, hit six batters (Suder was hit only once) and committed six errors.
     Hitting: Casey Cardenas 2-4, double; Jordan Bradley 1-2, John DeLap 2-3, double; Jason VanderWeide 1-4; Jake Suder (hbp); Ruben Rodriguez 2-4, 3 RBI, double; Matt Featherly 1-3; Zach Chiles 1-2.
     Against Colfax (which won a 3-way playoff with Newport and Kettle Falls to reach the play-in game), VanderWeide pitched into the fourth before giving way to Gilman. They limited Colfax to five hits. Okanogan finished with 10 hits.
     The game started as if it would be a high scoring affair, with Okanogan leading 4-3 after the first inning.
     Ruben Rodriguez keyed the hit attack with a two-run double.
     “That was a pretty big effort from two freshmen,” said Daling of his pitchers. “They came into an elimination game, threw strikes, and put us in a position to win. It’s awesome to see that out of two young kids.”
     Hitting: Casey Cardenas 3-4, John DeLap 2-4, Jake Suder 2-4, triple; Ruben Rodriguez 2-4, double, RBI; Matt Featherly 1-2, double.