By Ron Smith
May 17, 2025
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The season came to an end for Westmont Baseball (43-14) on the final day of the West Regional on Saturday. The Warriors dropped a pair of games to the Otters of Cal State Monterey Bay (38-17), losing the first 6-2 and the second 6-4.
 
The Otters entered the day needing to beat the Warriors twice in order to advance to next week's Super Regional, and did just that. As a result, they will travel to Nampa, Idaho next week to take on the Nighthawks of Northwest Nazarene in a best two-out-of-three series.
 
"Hats off to Monterey Bay," said Westmont's head coach Paul Svagdis. "I thought it was a great group of guys. They are competitive and play the game the right way. They have been in this thing for the last few years. To match up with them was certainly exciting for us as a team."
 
In the early game, the Otters took a 6-0 lead into the eighth inning before the Warriors got on the board. Westmont's runs were the result of an RBI single to right by Bryce McFeely that drove in Grant Yzermans and an RBI-double down the right-field line that scored Michael Soper from second. However, that was as close as the Warriors would get.

In the second game, Monterey Bay scored three times in the first and added another run in the third to go ahead 4-0.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Daniel Patterson hit a one-out solo home run. Trey Dunn came up next and walked before Jesse De Maggio stepped to the plate and hit a 419-feet shot over the center field fence for a two-run home run, pulling the Warriors to within one.
 
In the top of the sixth, Monterey Bay's KW Quilici made it a 6-3 game with a two-run home run to right field.
 
Trey Dunn responded with a solo home run in the top of the sixth as Westmont pulled within two.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, the Warriors loaded the bases with one away, but were unable to push across a run. The ninth inning also proved to be scoreless.
 
On the final day of the 2025 season, two performances stood out. Though having suffered an injury in yesterday's game, McFeely returned to the field for today's games. After driving in the Warriors first run in the first game, McFeely struggled to get around the bases and was replaced at first by Darrian Choi as a pinch runner.
 
"Bryce had hurt his hamstring," said Svagdis. "He's part of an incredible group of senior young men that I was blessed to be able to coach this year. Between games, when he saw he is in the lineup as the designated hitter, he came up to me and said, 'I can play first.'
 
"So, I went with the call from the senior on that one. You could see that he was playing through a lot of pain. He is a senior and he had earned the right to be able to come up to the coach and say, 'I want to play first base.' I thought he was going to be able to make the plays, and he certainly did."
 
The second standout performance was provided by senior Zach Yates. The Warrior record holder in both career and season saves, entered the game to pitch in the fourth inning and gave Westmont five innings of work.
 
"After 70 pitches, I think he was on fumes," noted Svagdis. "He knew he needed to get us into that ninth inning to get to Caden Beloian. He did an incredible job. He closed the game out on Thursday and we were asking a lot. It was a yeoman's task today and he certainly stepped to the call."
 
With the season over, Svagdis had a lot more to say about the team, and especially about his seniors.
 
"This team cared for each other, played for each other, and they were very selfless," explained Svagdis. "It was an incredibly dynamic group and they were willing to do all the little things to win baseball games. They were super tight off the field.
 
"The group of 16 seniors has gone to a world series, has won a world series, has been postseason eligible at the DII level and has earned the right to host and to be the two-seed in the West Regional. Their winning percentage is incredible. They did that through three coaches. For them to go through these three transitions and still compete is a great testament to culture and playing for each other.
 
"For our younger guys, they have done a lot of observing of what great leadership looks like. They get to walk into the summer and start to exhibit those same qualities on the summer teams they are playing on. Then, they come back in the fall. We have a great recruit class of about 15-18 guys coming in that we are super excited about. The returners will get to continue their leaders with our newcomers."
 
In regard to the departure of the seniors, Svagdis offered, "I'm in this thing to build relationships. Because we are not playing baseball any more doesn't mean that those relationships are going to end with these seniors. It just means they are going to expand into adult relationships. Now, I can be someone that can see them get married, have their own children and bring them to the field. I get to be a part of the process. I think I have 16 guys that I can call good friends now."