WALLA WALLA - After splitting its doubleheader game against DeSales Tuesday, the Waitsburg-Prescott Tigers are focusing on Saturday's game against St. John- Endicott in preparation for the playoffs.

Now solidly in third place in the league, the Tigers would remain in the top three if they split or sweep St. John this weekend. If they're swept, the WP players may end up in fourth place, depending on the outcome of other league games this weekend.

Either way, WP will have its first loser-out game on Tuesday.

"It's a big doubleheader," head coach Dustin Snedigar said about Saturday's game.

After splitting their doubleheader against Liberty Christian at home on Saturday, the Tiger won their first game against DeSales, 2-1, thanks to some excellent pitching from senior Zach Bartlow, Snedigar said.

"Zach just keeps getting better and better and better," he said. "We had some great plays defensively. Things just kind of worked for us in that first game."

Chris Manzano, who was two for three scored the first run in the first inning and Dalton Estes, who was two for four, scored the second run. Bartlow was two for three on bat.

The second game didn't go quite as well except for an inspiring homer from catcher Tucker Alleman, who pounded one out of the ballpark for two runs: his own and Chance Leroue's.

"I didn't even feel it come off my bat," Alleman said about his first-ever homer. "I swung, it hit the sweet spot and it just went."

His teammates came out of the dugout to greet Alleman after he and Leroue took their sweet time rounding the bases. It would be the lone celebratory moment of the game, which the Tigers lost, 10-2. The Tigers are now 8-4 in league and 10-7 overall.

The team split its doubleheader against Liberty Christian in Prescott Saturday, winning the first game, 6-4, but losing the second, 7-5.

Snedigar said the Tigers have done a better job fighting complacency that seems to be setting in after their first-game wins.

"That's been our Achilles heel," he said. "We're always playing catch-up in the second game."

Manzano, Estes, Herzog and Bartlow all scored runs in the first game's first inning, while Riley Stevens and Brice Paxson each scored one to prevail over Liberty Christian in the first game.

"We're really working as a team," Paxson said after the first game, which included two well-executed double plays that retired the Patriots in those innings. "We needed to get our confidence up. Once we start rolling it's hard to stop us."

WP didn't quite get on that roll in the second game against the Patriots. But Liberty Christian did. After the Tigers scored one run in the first and two in the second inning, the Patriots scored five runs in the bottom of the second and WP never really recovered.

WP vs Liberty Christian April 27

Game 1

WP 400002-6

LC 10100204

Game 2

WP 12100015

LC 15000107

WP vs DeSales May 1

Game 1

WP 20000002

DS 10000001

Game 2

WP 00200002

DS 220042-10