By Zach DeMarcus
April 21, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Scott Singh went two for four with a game-tying two run home run in game two and Henry Hedeen went three for seven on the day with two home runs and six RBI's as Westmont Baseball (33-14, 25-11 GSAC) won both ends of today's Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader to complete the three-game sweep of The Master's (24-23, 16-20 GSAC). Westmont won the first game 9-4 and the seven inning contest 8-5.
 
Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz said, "I think they brought great energy to the field today. They refused to get beat. They competed on every pitch and picked each other up and responded to every situation of adversity that we found ourselves in."
 
Today was senior day for the Warriors and the festivities started on a strong note as senior David Gaydos picked up his sixth win of the season to go with three losses as he threw six strong innings. He would go on to give up four runs on six hits to go along with six strike outs and one walk.
 
Gaydos ran into trouble early in the top of the first inning. Ryan Bricker led off the game with a single to right field – Ethan Brandt came in to pinch run at first. Aaron Shackelford followed with a single of his own. After a fly out, both players advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch. Preston White scored Brandt as he grounded out to second base. Kameron Quitno singled to right field to score Shackelford. Moises Garcia followed with an RBI-double to left field to plate Quitno.
 
The three-spot seemed to wake up the Warrior offense as they would respond with four runs in the bottom of the first. Taylor Garcia led off the inning with a single. Tyler Roper laid a bunt down to the third base line that he beat out for a single – Hayden Euper came on as the courtesy runner for Roper. Michael Stefanic hit an RBI-single to center field to bring in Garcia. Luke Coffey then stepped up to the plate and hammered his eighth home run of the season with a three-run shot over the right field fence – claiming the lead at 4-3 for the Warriors.
 
Gaydos was able to settle in and throw up a big zero in the top of the second inning to keep the lead. Ruiz said of Gaydos' outing, "It's just kind of a reflection of what he's done all year. Regardless of what the situation he's just going to keep competing. He got better as the game went on. He didn't let a bad start define his outing. He continued to compete through it and battle. That's why he's a captain and a leader in our pitching staff."
 
Westmont added another run in the bottom of the third when Henry Hedeen hit his seventh home run of the season on a 1-0 pitch that he hammered over the right field fence for a solo home run – bringing the score to 5-3 in favor of the Warriors.
 
The Mustangs came within a run of the Warriors in the top of the fifth. Shackelford was hit by a pitch to start the inning. He then stole second and later tagged up and advanced to third on a deep fly out to center field. Shackelford would then score on a groundout out to the second baseman.
 
Bay Buckley came in to throw the seventh inning for the Warriors. After surrendering a leadoff walk, Buckley was able to avoid any damage as he struck out the next two Mustang batters and induced a pop up to complete the zero.
 
The baton was passed to left-hander Cory Dawson on the mound in the eighth. He tossed a clean inning while striking out two and coaxing a pop out.  
 
The Warriors added four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Todd Yost led off the inning with a single to left field. Senior Scott Singh then came in to pinch hit. He laid down a sacrifice bunt. The Mustang pitcher elected to try and get the lead runner at second, but his throw was late leaving both runners safe on the fielder's choice.
 
After a Mustang pitching change and a strikeout, Roper drew a walk to load the bases – Euper again came on to courtesy run. Stefanic then worked a 2-2 count before doubling down the left field line to bring in Yost and Singh. With two outs, Hedeen singled through the shift to bring in two more in Euper and Stefanic – bringing the score to its eventual final of 9-4 in favor of the Warriors.
 
Lance Simpson finished up the duties on the mound in the ninth as he continued the trend with two strikeouts and a groundout to toss a clean ninth to wrap up the victory for the Warriors.
 
Of the three scoreless innings the Warrior bullpen threw, Ruiz said, "The bullpen was great today. We were really able to rely on them to get us out of jams. They pitched in tight situations and kept the lead. Bay Buckley, Cory Dawson, Lance Simpson, I can't say enough about those guys. They really solidified the backend of the bullpen for us and did an amazing job. I'm really proud of the way they competed for us today."
 
Vanguard lost in their first game today against Hope International by a score of 1-5 – this clinched a second place finish in the GSAC for the Warriors.
 
Justin Sanders took the mound for the Warriors in game two. He went five innings giving up six hits and five runs – three earned. He also struck out two and walked two.
 
Sanders, like Gaydos, had a tough top of the first. Max Maitland hit a leadoff double to start the game for The Master's. Bricker advanced Maitland to second on a sacrifice bunt. Shackelford followed with a single through the right side to score Maitland. White then hammered a 3-1 fastball well over the left field fence for a two-run home run.
 
Westmont's offense again responded in the bottom of the first. With two outs, Stefanic was hit by a pitch. That was Stefanic's 35th career hit by pitch tying him with Timothy Leary for most in Warrior history. Coffey singled to center field to keep the rally going and bring up Hedeen. Hedeen whacked a 0-1 pitch over the right field fence for a three-run home run – tying the game at three with his second long ball of the day. 
 
Hedeen said, "I've been seeing it really well lately. I'm feeling really comfortable in the box. A big thing for me is getting my swing off and staying within my own count. That's been helping me out a lot the last couple of weeks and I was able to keep that going today. It's a huge advantage to hit behind Mike and Luke so if something goes out it's going to get a couple extra."
 
The Master's added a run in both the third and the fourth innings. In the third with two outs and a runner on second, Quitno hit an RBI-double to right center to plate Shackelford. The Mustangs added a run in the fourth on one hit and two errors – brining the score to 3-5 in favor of the Mustangs through four innings.
 
The senior festivities continued in the bottom of the fifth for the Warriors. Alex Stufft hit a leadoff single to center field. Two outs later, Singh came up to the plate and with a 1-0 count took a swing he won't soon forget as he hammered the pitch over the left field fence in front of an ecstatic home crowd and dugout for a game-tying two-run home run.
 
Ruiz said, "It's hard to describe that moment. It was pretty magical. The guy hasn't had many opportunities this year. He's been through so many injuries in his career. He's a four year guy who means the world to this program. He's a leader and a great human being. I couldn't have hoped for that to happen to a better guy. It was an ideal situation and I'm super excited for Scotty.
 
"The best part of that story is I called a hit-and-run, our runner didn't go but Scottie got it. We were all pretty fired up for him. I think he enjoyed every moment of jugging around those bases. It's a moment he'll never forget."
 
Singh added, "I was just looking for a fastball to hit. Coach actually called a hit-and-run so I was free swinging.
He threw it right down the middle. The coolest about that was when I looked over to the dugout and saw my teammates going nuts. There's something special about this team. We're peaking at the right time. It's special and really cool to be a part of it."
 
Stefanic continued the two-out rally with a single to right field – he then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Coffey worked a full count and singled through the left side to score Stefanic and give the Warriors the 6-5 lead.
 
Senior Brodie Nicholson came in to throw in the top of the sixth. He induced a pop out to the shortstop before giving up a hit. Dawson was then called in to face the left hander Maitland. Maitland worked a full count before singling up the middle. Pitching coach Tony Cougoule came out to the mound to bring in Simpson for the five-out save opportunity.
 
With runners on first and second and one out, Simpson escaped the jam with quite the unconventional double play. Simpson executed an inside move as the runner on second broke for third. Simpson threw to third where the runner was tagged out, Coffey then threw to Stefanic at second where he tagged out Maitland – who deciding late to break for second.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Justin McPhail led off with a single to center field. After a line out, Stufft drew a walk. Robert Mendez lined an RBI-single to left field to score McPhail – Euper came on as the courtesy runner. Garcia hit a groundball to third base where the third baseman got the force out at third but threw the ball past the first baseman – allowing Euper to advance to third and leaving Garcia safe at first on the fielder's choice. Singh then continued his heroics with his second hit of the game with an RBI-single to left field to score Euper and extend Westmont's lead to 8-5.
 
Ruiz added, "Bob (Robert) Mendez, I have to point him out. He stayed poised behind the plate. He put his barrel on the baseball all day. He had great at-bats. He's another guy who hasn't had a lot of opportunity, but he came up big for us today time and time again. I'm really excited for him and what he was able to do."
 
Simpson came back out for the seventh and enticed Bricker to pop up to the shortstop for the first out. He conceded a single to Shackelford and then struck out White for the second out of the inning. On a 2-1 count to Quitno, Simpson spun a slider that Quitno grounded to first. Stufft fielded the ball and stepped on first to end the game, awarding Simpson his 10th save of the season, finishing the sweep for the Warriors, and extending Westmont's winning streak to seven games.
 
Ruiz shared some thoughts on his seniors as he said, "It's special more me as a coach to recognize and honor these 11 guys. I'm proud of what they've done and what they put in here. We get a lot of four year guys and it's not easy to get through Westmont. It's challenging. The expectations are high on and off the field. I'm proud of these guys for sticking it out.
 
"For me as a coach, I'm humbled and honored to be able to say that I coached these guys and had a chance to compete with them. I'm really excited about what's ahead and all the games and different fields we're going to get to go play on going forward. We'll soak up this moment today and then we'll get back to work on Monday. I couldn't be more proud of this group of guys and what they mean to me personally, to my family, and to this program," finished Ruiz.
 
Westmont will now look forward to the GSAC tournament hosted by Vanguard on April 30 through May 3. The Warriors will go into the tournament as the second seed and will face third-seeded Vanguard (28-23-1, 22-14 GSAC) in the first round.