By Ron Smith
January 31, 2025
 
(POMONA, Calif.) Westmont Baseball started off the 2025 season with a 5-4 win at Cal Poly Pomona (0-1) on Friday night. The Warriors, ranked 25th in Division II by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, scored twice in the top of the ninth to claim the win.
 
For the fourth year in a row, senior Bryan Peck served as the starting pitcher on opening day. In his 44th career start, he pitched four and two-third innings, allowing two unearned runs on five hits. Peck struck out six without issuing a walk.
 
"From the first pitch he was super poised and had command of the mound and the game - from 'go' to the end," said Paul Svagdis in his first game as Westmont's head coach. "We only pulled him because he was on a pitch count. He did a marvelous job."
 
The Warriors lit up the scoreboard first. Trey Dunn led off the top of the second with an infield single, then stole second. Dunn reached third base when Isaac Veal flew out to deep centerfield. Jack Bollengier stepped up to the plate and produced an RBI-single up the middle, giving Westmont a 1-0 lead.
 
The score remained the same until the bottom of the third when a pair of Warrior errors led to two Bronco runs. With runners on first and second, courtesy of the miscues, Jack Sanders singled to center field to drive in the first run. Then, Marco Malerba produced an infield single to plate the second.
 
The Warriors responded with a single run in the top of the fifth to tie the game at two runs apiece. With two away, Shane Hofstadler tripled to center field on a 2-2 count. That brought up Patterson whose ground ball ate up the Broncos' second baseman, allowing Hofstadler to score and Patterson to reach first.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, the Broncos gained a one-out baserunner when Johnny Pappas singled to left. Pappas was retired on a fielder's choice that left Sanders on first with one away. Svagdis elected to bring Caden Beloian out of the pen to face Malerba, the Bronco's number three hitter. On a 0-2 count, Malerba grounded out to first to keep the score 2-2.
 
Beloian pitched two and two-thirds innings for the Warriors, allowing one run on one hit and striking out two.
 
"I was proud of Caden," expressed Svagdis. "We have some young guys that we need to step up this year and he is one of those young pitchers. I thought he did great. He was super competitive and pitched tough. I was really happy for him."
 
Westmont took the lead in the top of the eighth inning. With one away, Patterson was hit by a pitch and then took second when Michael Soper reached on an error. Bryce McFeely put the Warriors on top with an RBI-single to left that scored Patterson.
 
Trailing 2-3 in the bottom of the eighth, the Broncos tied the score once more. A one-out double down the left field line by Julian Angulo resulted in a pitching change, with Zach Yates making his 49th career appearance. However, that did not prevent the Broncos from scoring when Anthony Gibbons singled up the middle to bring Angulo home.
 
The threat did not end there. With runners at first and second and still just one out, the Warriors brought the inning to an end with a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play on a double-steal attempt. After Yates struck out Brent Cota, Hofstadler threw down to Patterson at third to retire Gibbons.
 
With one away in the top of the ninth, Bollengier singled up the middle. Then with Callahan at bat, Bollengier took second on a wild pitch. The ball-four pitch to Callahan got past the catcher, allowing Bollengier to take third and giving Westmont runners on the corners.
 
When Hofstadler struck out, Callahan stole second, bringing up Patterson with runners at second and third. The Warriors' third baseman swung at the first pitch he saw and sent an opposite-field single into right. Bollengier scored easily and Callahan avoided the tag at the plate to give Westmont a 5-3 advantage.
 
"Kudos to Daniel," expressed Svagdis. "He has a lot of pressure on him coming into this year. It is nice to see him get off to a great start."
 
Yates returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth. After striking out pinch hitter Tyler Chaffee on three pitches, he coaxed Clay Porter into grounding out to second. With two outs and a full count, Pappas sent a solo home run over the left-center field fence, making it a 5-4 game. That brought up Sanders who took a 2-2 pitch and struck out looking to end the game.
 
Yates, who pitched one and two-third innings, was awarded the win. He allowed one run on three hits while striking out three.
 
"It is basically my first time seeing Zach live," noted Svagdis. "He didn't throw a ton in the fall because we were trying to protect his arm. I thought he looked dynamite. Zach handled the adversity. The older guys gave him the runs back and after he gave up the home run, he locked in. He was pitching well. I was impressed with his performance.
 
"I thought the impressive thing for the whole staff is that we didn't walk a single guy. If you don't walk guys - and hopefully we will clean up some of our defensive stuff - we can be in a lot of games if we continue down that path."
 
Despite all the Warriors' success in recent years, this is the first time since 2020 that Westmont has won on opening day.
 
"I thought the team battled at the plate, limited our strikeouts, and put the ball in play hard with some line drive outs," reflected Svagdis about his offense. "I thought they ran the bases well. We grabbed four bags and they were critical during the course of the game.
 
"When we went down, or they tied it up, there were no sad faces. No one got upset. Our guys came out after we had a bad defensive inning and played really good baseball. I was proud of the team character."
 
The Warriors and Broncos will face off again tomorrow, playing a doubleheader beginning at noon.