By Zach DeMarcus
April 17, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Baseball (30-14) eased past Marymount of California (16-25-1) this afternoon by a score of 14-5. Henry Hedeen continued to stay hot at the plate for the Warriors as he went 2 for 3 on the afternoon with a home run and four RBIs.
 
Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz said, "I thought today was a really good response to last (Tuesday). I think it can be really hard to keep your focus in Tuesday games late in the season. As a player that's getting ready for your final weekend of the regular season, you're getting ready for finals, and your conference tournament, there are so many other things that can draw your focus away from the game in front of you. We came out and were focused. To me that was responding to our effort last week."
 
The Warriors pitched by committee today, with Toby Dunlap getting the start. He went two innings and gave up one run on four hits. Ruiz said, "It's good to get Toby back on the mound. He needs to face batters and throw pitches and see how his body is going to continue to respond. He felt better today. He actually looked his best to me at the end of his second inning."
 
Back-to-back doubles to start the top of the second gave Marymount the early lead. Jacob Gafford hit a leadoff-double down the left field line. Nicholas Jacobson followed with another double just past the diving glove of third baseman Luke Coffey – bringing in Gafford. Dunlap induced a fly out, ground out, and a fly out to escape any further damage.
 
Dylan Sund came in to throw the bottom of the third for the Warriors. Jonathan Lazaroff led off with a single to right field. Ulysses Duran followed suit with a single to left field. After a strikeout, Eric Fields roped a ball to the right field fence. Taylor Garcia quickly got the ball into second baseman Michael Stefanic. Stefanic fired home to gun out Lazaraoff who was attempting to score. Sund got out of the jam by throwing a groundout to shortstop.
 
Sund would go three innings, striking out one, walking one, and giving up one run on four hits. "Dylan is a freshman that's continuing to grow, learn, and mature. He found ways to get out of some of the jams that he got into. He missed some location early and found a way to make pitches when he had to. The fact that he continues to put up zeros and pitch meaningful innings in the mid-week is really important for his development, not only for this year but for the future," added Ruiz.
 
Scott Singh and Travis Vander Molen reached base on back-to-back hit by pitches to start off the bottom of the third inning. After a Marymount pitching change, Garcia laid down a sacrifice bunt. The pitcher attempted to throw out Singh at third base, but the third baseman dropped the ball – committing an error and leaving everyone safe. Tyler Roper followed with a line drive up the middle to score Singh – Euper came on as the courtesy runner.
 
Stefanic reached first on a fielder's choice with a high chopper up the middle. The shortstop got the force out at second, but his throw was late to first as he attempted to double up Stefanic. Coffey continued the rally with a long RBI-single off the left field fence – scoring Garcia and advancing Stefanic to second. Henry Hedeen followed with an RBI-single to center that scored Stefanic.
 
Bush drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Bryce Morison pieced up a ball to center field – allowing Coffey to score the fifth run of the inning on the sacrifice fly. Westmont scored five runs on three hits in the inning to take the lead 5-1 through three.
 
The Warriors added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Garcia drew a walk and Roper was hit by a pitch. Euper again came on to run for Roper. Stefanic sat back on a curveball and lined a ball up the middle for an RBI-single.
 
After a pitching change, Coffey hit a deep fly ball that the center field dove for. The ball went in and out of his glove for an RBI-double – Euper scored and Stefanic advanced to third. Hedeen then drilled a first-pitch fastball well over the right field fence for a three-run home run.
 
Ruiz said of Hedeen, "I think it's another case of a guy that's got a lot more experience now than he did at the beginning of the year. He's starting to relax and trust in the work he's putting in and trust in himself as a hitter. He's understanding himself and his strike zone a little bit better as the season matures. If he continues to play that way he's really going to impact this team in the postseason."
 
Bush rekindled the rally with a one-out walk. Morison singled through the right side. Singh reached on an error by the shortstop to load the bases. Vander Molen then hit a two RBI-single up the middle – scoring Bush and Morison. After a fly out, Robert Mendez hit a pinch hit RBI-single on a ball that bounced over the second basemen's head – Singh scored for the eighth Warrior run of the inning. Westmont led 13-1 after four.
 
The Warriors changed their defensive scheme in the top of the fifth. Justin McPhail came in as the right fielder, Mendez stayed in as the catcher, Andrew Bayard came in as the third baseman, and Alex Stufft as the first baseman. Marymount added a run in the inning with a leadoff double by Isaias Pulido. He advanced to third on a groundball to the second baseman and was brought home by a swinging bunt off the bat of Duran.
 
Zack Mendez replaced Hedeen as the designated hitter and drew a one-out walk. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and took third after tagging up on a deep fly ball to center off the bat of Bush. Mendez completed his trip around the bases as he scored on a wild pitch – pushing the score to 14-2 in favor of the Warriors.
 
Brodie Nickolson took over the duties on the mound for the Warriors in the top of the sixth. He would give up one run and strikeout one in his inning of work.
 
Rob Hill came in to throw the top of the seventh for Westmont. With one run in, one out and the bases loaded Bay Buckley came in to pitch. He conceded a run on a groundout and induced a pop out to finish up the inning.
 
Brody Weiss came in for his first appearance of the year on the mound for the Warriors in the eighth. He struck out one in his scoreless inning of work.
 
To finish the game, Bush came in, also his first appearance of the year, to throw the ninth. After a hit batsman and a hit, he tossed a double play to the second baseman. After a walk, Bush enticed the Marymount hitter to pop out to second base to end the game and give Westmont the 14-5 win.
 
Of Weiss and Bush, Ruiz said, "I thought they looked good. They haven't been on the mound all year. Everybody knows we're going into a five-team (GSAC) tournament and the more depth you can create there if you happen to fall into a loser's bracket helps. The more options you have the more dynamic you become as a team.
 
"When you get a chance to get out there, you get a little more comfort. To get them out there with a hitter in the box when things count was the ultimate goal for those guys today," said Ruiz.
 
Westmont will now prepare to play host to The Master's this weekend for the final three-game Golden State Athletic Conference series of the season. Friday's single game starts at 3:00 p.m. and Saturday's doubleheader, following Senior Day presentations, is scheduled for 11:00 a.m