After sweeping Vanguard in a doubleheader on Saturday and taking three out of four in the series, Westmont Baseball (22-25-1, 13-19 GSAC) has secured the number six seed in next week's Golden State Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament. It marks the first time since 1997 that the team will participate in postseason play. Westmont won the first game by a score of 10-9 and the second by an 8-2 margin.
"It is so special to be a part of this team and to be back with the guys," said senior captain Coby Cress.
Cress missed last week's series with Azusa Pacific due to a medical condition but was cleared by his physician to play in this week's series with Vanguard.
"I told J.J that if I wasn't able to play, I would feel a little bit like Moses watching the rest of the Israelites go into the promise land," said Cress. "It is great to be a part of it and contribute any way I can.
"We have been grinding and fighting and scratching and clawing for three years," reflected Cress. "Words cannot explain how good it feels to accomplish our goal. We have more games to play, which is always exciting when you are a senior."
The Warriors will open play in the double-elimination GSAC Tournament on Tuesday at eleven o'clock when they will face top-seeded Azusa Pacific (41-9, 28-4). The Cougars, who are ranked at number four in the NAIA, will serve as hosts for all tournament games.
Westmont finished in the conference standings in a three-way tie for fifth place with Vanguard (23-21, 13-19) and Fresno Pacific (26-25, 13-19). The GSAC's tiebreaking rules awarded the fifth seed in the tournament to Fresno Pacific, leaving Vanguard out of the postseason picture.
After pitching in relief in the second game on Friday and earning a win, Westmont's Mitch Crocker earned wins in both games of Saturday's doubleheader. In the first game he pitched the final two and one-third innings, allowing one hit without giving up a walk. In the second game he pitched a complete nine-inning game allowing two runs on nine hits. Crocker struck out five and walked just one in the complete game performance.
Vanguard struck first in the opening game, scoring a single run in the top of the second inning on a ground ball RBI by Michael Castello. However, Westmont took the lead in the bottom of the same inning on solo home runs by third baseman David Gabel and shortstop Brent Fukushima.
In the top of the third, Vanguard recaptured its advantage with two runs on a RBI double to left center by Adonis Tountas and a RBI single to left center by Brandon Young. The damage could have been worse, but when Young tried to reach home on a double to right field by Henry Yates, he was gunned down at the plate on a relay throw by Westmont second baseman David Pennington to catcher Brandon Gildea.
Vanguard increased their lead to 4-2 in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI single to right field by Ethan Harper. Westmont, however, evened the score at four-all in the bottom of the fourth. An RBI double down the left field line by Fukushima drove in left fielder Mitch Petrak. Fukushima then scored on a RBI single to left center by second baseman David Pennington.
In the bottom of the fifth, Westmont scored three runs to take a 7-4 lead. Designated hitter Tim Leary led off the inning with a double to left center and advanced to third on a single by Cress. After Cress reached second on a wild pitch, another wild pitch allowed Leary to score and Cress to take third.
One out later, Petrak singled into left to drive in Cress. Petrak moved to second on the third wild pitch of the inning, and then took third on a ground out by pinch hitter Trevor Christianson. Fukushima reached on an error that allowed Petrack to score.
Westmont made it an 8-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Gabel that drove in in Leary. However, the Lions were about to roar back with five runs in the top of the seventh to take a 9-8 lead. Most of the runs came on a three-run home run by Castello.
In the bottom of the eighth, Leary unleashed his record tying sixteenth home run of the season, driving in Pennington in the process to give Westmont a 10-9 advantage.
"Coach Ruiz told me to stick to our hitting plan," said Leary. "The pitcher was throwing off-speed stuff, so I stayed middle-away, right side. I got the pitch I wanted and hit it. It was awesome."
Crocker returned to the hill in the top of the ninth and retired the side in order to secure the win.
When Ruiz turned in his starting line-up for game two, he left Crocker to pick up right where he left off in game one.
"Mitch has been the bulldog of our staff," said Ruiz. "He came off the mound so jazzed up after closing the first game out. He came in the dugout and he asked for the ball in the second game. Mitch was so convicted about it that we believed in it. We wanted to ride it out and see what he could do. We had (Ryan) Sullivan on short rest to take Mitch's place in the back of the bullpen, but Mitch just kept going and wouldn't give in. I couldn't be more proud of him. He showed all of us how competitive he can be, how focused he can be and how good he can be."
"I was just trying to get us through a couple of innings because I knew we were running thin (in the bullpen)," said Crocker. "I just wanted to help us out and help us get to the playoffs."
As in the first game, Vanguard scored first, putting up one run in the second inning and another in the third. However, the Warrior's offense came alive in the bottom of the third and gave Crocker a 4-2 lead to work with.
Pennington and Turbin led off the innings with back-to-back singles, but Leary ground into a double play leaving Turbin at second with two away. After Turbin took third on a wild pitch, Cress tripled to left field to drive in Turbin. Gabel was then hit by a pitch, putting runners on the corners. A single to right field by Petrak drove in Cress and moved Gabel to third. Hunter Christenson then walked to load the bases.
An infield single by Brent Fukushima brought in Gabel and left the sacks full of Warriors. Rouse singled to left field to score Petrak. Christenson also crossed the plate, but his run was disallowed. Fukushima was thrown out at after reaching second base and travelling a bit too far off the base pad. The home plate umpire ruled the Fukushima had been tagged out before Christenson reached home.
The Warriors would add single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, as well as two in the eighth, but none of them proved necessary as Crocker did not allow a run the rest of the way. Crocker improved to 6-3 on the year with an ERA of 3.88.
