By Ron Smith
February 28, 2020
 
(SANTA CLARITA, Calif.) Westmont Baseball (13-8, 8-2 GSAC) rallied from deficits during both ends of a doubleheader to take the first two games of a four-game, Golden State Athletic Conference series at The Master's (13-8, 4-6). The 15th ranked Warriors won the first game 6-4 before taking the second 3-1.
 
In the early game, Westmont fell behind 3-0 when the Mustangs posted back-to-back home runs in the second innings off of starter Cory Dawson. Byron Smith blasted a two-run home run to left before Kaleyl Anderson went over the fence in left-center.
 
Westmont scored one run in the top of the third to cut the deficit to two. Travis Vander Molen reached on a single that got past the Mustangs' right fielder, allowing the Warriors' senior first baseman to reach third. Isaiah Leach picked up an RBI with a ground ball to second.
 
However, the Mustangs took the run back in the bottom half of the third when Ryan Bricker singled to left to drive in Brock Bell from second.
 
In the top of the fourth, Daniel Netz delivered the first of his two lead-off home runs, this one over the left field fence. Drew Bayard followed Netz at the plate and reached when he was hit by a pitch. Bayard advanced to second on a single by Alex Stufft through the right side.

Two outs later, Simon Reid deposited a two-RBI double to left field to tie the game at four runs each.
 
The score remained tied until Netz' second home run that cleared the center field fence in the top of the eighth.
 
In the top of the ninth, Devin Perez added an insurance run with a solo dinger to right.
 
"The offense just kept competing," noted Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz. "Daniel Netz had two home runs and Alex Stufft had a breakout day at the plate. Simon Reid was off the charts defensively and offensively."
 
Stufft went three for four at the plate in the first game and Reid was three of five.
 
Dawson improved his record to 4-1. The left-hander allowed four runs on nine hits, struck out eight and walked just one over eight innings of work.
 
"Dawson had a hard time getting going and wasn't in rhythm early in the game." Noted Ruiz. "He left a couple of pitches over the plate. The Master's put together some good at bats early in the game and put the pressure on us by putting up a three-spot.
 
"Then, Cory started laying in his secondary pitches for strikes, fell into a rhythm and controlled the game from there. It was a great turnaround performance. It is really hard to do when you don't start the way you want to."
 
Bailey Reid picked up his second save of the season by closing out the ninth. He faced four batters, allowing two hits and striking out two.
 
"Bailey was very good in the ninth," said Ruiz. "He had command of all his pitches and was poised. He didn't pitch in high school, but every year we see this exponential growth in terms of his ability to know how to pitch."
 
Ruiz was also pleased with his team's defensive performance in the first game. "We played flawless defense and Simon threw out a couple of runners in big situations. Our middle infielders and third baseman did a good job of staying in on plays and finishing those plays. It was a well-played baseball game and a great team effort."
 
Jameson Kruger took the mound for the Warriors in the second, seven-inning game and retired the first 11 batters that he faced – nine of those outs were infield groundouts. Kruger pitched his third complete game in as many starts.
 
"Kruger was as good as I have seen him," assessed Ruiz. "His stuff was working and he was incredibly efficient. He threw an 82-pitch complete game.
 
"He was going up against a really good arm for The Master's in Aidan Stout. We knew going into that game that it was going to be a really good battle. I though Aidan was really good today.
 
"I was proud of Jamie's poise, composure and maturity. He wasn't getting frustrated with our inability to score runs. He just battled through it and finally the guys found a way to give him some runs. Then he came back out in the bottom half of the inning and shut them down."
 
With two away in the fourth, The Master's Tyler Van Marter scored an unearned run after reaching first on an error. Marter reached second on a single to left and then scored on a single up the middle.
 
Westmont remained scoreless until the top of the seventh inning. After Leach reached on a lead-off walk, Perez collected his second home run of the day, clearing the right-field fence to give Westmont a 2-1 lead.
 
Kruger returned to the mound for the seventh inning and picked up his third complete game in a row. Kruger, the reigning GSAC Pitcher of the Week, is now 3-0 on the year with an ERA of 1.69.
 
"Isaiah's lead-off walk was a great at bat," said Ruiz. "It puts pressure on their pitcher and makes him throw out of the stretch. Devin had an incredibly focused at-bat. He didn't chase pitches out of the zone. He stayed locked in, got a good pitch to hit and he hit it a ways."
 
Two outs later, Westmont added another run in the inning. Stufft singled to right and reached second when pinch hitter Lennie Rodriguez was walked. With Jeremiah Canada pinch running for Stufft, Taylor Garcia lined a single into left to score Rodriguez.
 
"Garcia had a huge RBI-base hit, which gives us another run of cushion," said Ruiz. "A cushion is critical as you get late against a good offensive team like The Master's. Getting that extra run lowers the stress level a little bit."
 
The Warriors and Mustangs will meet again on Reese Field at Lou Herwaldt Stadium tomorrow for another doubleheader. First pitch is at eleven o'clock.