MARK TRENTACOSTA pitching for GWC
By Hope Bowser
Western Sun staff writer
In a game that kept spectators nail-biting until the very end, Golden West College baseball narrowly defeated the Cypress Chargers with a victory of 8-7 on a beautiful Saturday home game March 20.
The first inning flew by with 1,2,3 outs by both GWC and Cypress pitchers. Once the players got warmed up, the top of the second started off with a strong base hit straight down the middle by a Chargers batter. Luckily, the Green and Gold managed to successfully perform a double play ensuring no runs would be scored this inning.
The Rustlers made their first mark on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second with a home run by outfielder Jordan Tripp. Outfielder Alec Rosales hit a single to right field, and then narrowly stole second.
Chaos ensued as the Cypress third base coach confronted the umpire on the close call; the crowd began chanting “Play ball!” restlessly from the stands. The call stood as safe and the playing continued, as well as the tension.
The Chargers started off the top of the third with a strong double. The next Cypress batter hit a single straight up the middle, helping to set up the opportunity for the score. The inning ended with a strikeout, much to the relief of the nervous crowd as they watched the ball ground out to short.
The score at the bottom of the third was 1-1. Infielder Michael Syrett kicked off the bottom of the third with a strong single, followed up by Brent Tani’s single. Freshman catcher Clayton Prestridge performed a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third respectively.
Luckily for the Rustlers, another error by the Chargers (a pitch thrown over the catchers head) advanced each runner once again and scored the second run for GWC.
The Chargers scored with a home run in the top of the fourth making the score 2-2. The bottom of the fourth was a series of close calls for the Rustlers. A successful pitch out caught Tripp trying to steal second, and outfielder Zach Cardenalli nearly hit a triple but was tagged out at the last possible second. The Rustlers despite their frustrations ended the the inning with another run on the scoreboard.
A walk by a Cypress batter began the fifth inning, and a triple RBI by the next player, which added another run to the scoreboard tying the game 3-3. Fortunately the inning ended with a ground out and no more runs scored for Cypress. The bottom of the fifth proved uneventful for the Rustlers minus a pitching change.
In the sixth, the Chargers scored two more runs, bringing the score to 5-3 Cypress. Freshman first baseman John Spirk added one more run to the score for GWC, after yet another Cypress error allowed him to advance home. Another sacrifice bunt by Prestridge positioned runners at second and third, enabling another run to be scored.
The scored was tied 5-5 at the end of the sixth. The beginning of the seventh started off with a warning pitch thrown over the Cypress batter’s head. The batter had previously run into one of GWC’s basemen, and the pitcher was protecting his team by letting him know it was unacceptable.
Two batters later, Cypress scored a run due to a Rustler error, and a sacrifice fly by a Cypress batter provided the opportunity for the last Charger run to be scored.
In the bottom of the seventh, Spirk scored his second run of the game after freshman infielder John Baccari hit a single. Tripp’s triple RBI tied the game, 7-7.
The Green and Gold got three straight outs on the chargers in the top of the eighth inning, while in the bottom yet another Cypress error allowed the winning run of the game to be scored by Prestridge. The ball was a high bouncer that was thrown back to first and dropped, giving him enough time to run home.
The crowd, players, and coaches were all nervous during the top of the ninth, but probably none more so than pitcher Robert Welch. An intentional walk backfired and led to bases loaded, with a count of 3 balls, 0 strikes. A skilled Welch managed to end the game with a strikeout, much to the relief of his teammates and fans.
Another win is in the books for Golden West in conference play. On Thursday the Rustlers will visit Orange Coast College at 2 p.m., then host Chaffey College on Tuesday, March 30. Then it’s off to Chaffey on April 1.
