By Tim Heiduk
May 13, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The Westmont baseball team entered the Opening Round with aspirations of advancing to its first ever NAIA World Series. The road to Lewiston, Idaho became a lot more difficult for the second-seeded Warriors after they lost a back and forth battle with third-seeded Antelope Valley, 9-8, in their Santa Barbara Bracket opener.
 
"It's playoff baseball," said Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. "Playoff baseball games always are a little bit different. We fell behind early and I thought our guys did a good job of fighting their way back into that game and getting themselves a lead. I felt like we were in it every pitch of the game."
 
The Warriors trailed for most of the game, but fought back to take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Westmont scored five runs to go ahead 7-5. That lead did not last long though, as the Pioneers scored three in the top of the eighth to take a one-run lead. The Warriors briefly tied it up in the bottom half of the inning, before Antelope Valley took the lead for good in the top of the ninth.
 
"It was a whirlwind of emotions, it was up, down, but our guys did what they've done all year and just continued to stay in the fight," said Ruiz.
 
Antelope Valley entered the game with a program record 20-game winning streak. The Pioneers extended that to 21 with a win against the host Warriors.
 
"I thought our pitchers really competed in big moments," said Antelope Valley head coach Jacob Garsez when asked about what made the difference for his team. "They didn't have their best outings today, but in big moments they really competed and minimized situations."
 
There was no better example of this than in the bottom of the second inning, when Antelope Valley's starter Tanner White stranded the bases loaded. After a Cole Carder two-RBI single gave the Pioneers an early lead in the top of the second, Westmont looked poised to respond in the bottom half of the inning. Nicky Sablock led off with a walk, before Isaiah Leach blooped a single to right field, putting runners on first and second. After Taylor Bush struck out swinging, Travis Vander Molen laced a ball up the middle, ripping off White's glove in the process. By getting his glove on the ball, White was able to keep the ball in the infield and prevented a run from scoring. With the bases loaded and one out, White got Drew Bayard to strike out swinging before Taylor Garcia flew out to left field, ending the Warriors' threat.
 
"You don't like to look back and play the 'what-if' game, but I just think we didn't take care of enough things that were within our control and at the end of the day that's probably the difference in the game," said Ruiz. "When you don't do that in a playoff game against a good team, you get the result that we got."
 
The Warriors were able to get on the board in the top of the third, when Tyler Roper drove a first pitch fastball over the left field fence to bring the Warriors within one, 2-1. It was Roper's first home run of the season.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Luke Coffey tied the game at 2-2 with a bloop single to right field, scoring Bayard from second after he led off the half inning with a walk. The Warriors were unable to capitalize with runners on the corners, as White induced an inning-ending double play.
 
The Pioneers quickly restored their lead in the top of the sixth, when Nate Broaddus hit a two-run opposite field home run to right field, putting the visitors back ahead 4-2. Kaleyl Anderson's RBI-double in the top of the seventh extended the Pioneers' lead to three.
 
This lead evaporated when Westmont scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh, putting the Warriors ahead, 7-5. White had cruised up to this point, only giving up two runs through six innings. But, the Warriors finally got to him in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Bayard singled to right field with one out before Garcia brought him home with an RBI-double to deep left center. Roper then had a bunt single, advancing Garcia to third. Coffey was hit by a first-pitch curveball to load the bases for Morison. The All-GSAC and Gold Glove center fielder hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Garcia and reducing the Warriors' deficit to one. With two outs, Sablock lined a double down the left field line to tie the game at 5-5. With runners on second and third, Antelope Valley reliever Zach Carr balked, scoring Coffey from third base and advancing Sablock to third. Leach then hit an RBI-single to right field to put the Warriors up by two.
 
The Pioneers responded with three runs in the top of the eighth to regain the lead, 8-7. Gerardo Castaneda hit a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing the Pioneers within one, before Carder smashed a two-run homer to left field.
 
Bayard led off the bottom of the eighth by launching a home run of his own on the first pitch he saw, tying the game back up at 8-8. However, the Pioneers took the lead for good in the top of the ninth off a Tyler Van Marter sacrifice fly.
 
With the 9-8 win, the Pioneers advance to Game Five tomorrow against top-seeded Science and Arts (Okla.). The winner of that game will be one win away from booking its ticket to the NAIA World Series, a stage the Pioneers reached last season.
 
Westmont drops to the Loser's Bracket and will take on Jamestown (N.D.) tomorrow morning at 9:00 am in a lose-or-go-home game. The Warriors must win five games in a row to be crowned champions of the Opening Round Tournament they are hosting.
 
"You don't want to be in the loser's bracket, nobody does," said Ruiz. "We can sit and kind of whine about it, but that's not going to get us where we want to go. I think at the end of the day the path just looks a little different than maybe we anticipated. You don't win five games by thinking about the fifth game. You win five games by thinking about the first inning of the next game and that's really where our minds need to be as a coaching staff and as a team."
 
One thing working in the Warriors' favor is they are playing at home, where even after today's loss they are 22-6 on the season.
 
"When you're playing in front of your home crowd, there's nothing better," said Ruiz.