Golden West pitcher Chris Devenski
pitches strongly vs. Orange Coast
By Hope Bowser
Western Sun staff writer
On March 4, Golden West College baseball dominated against the Orange Coast College Pirates by a score of 8-3.
The game was originally scheduled to be on the road for the Rustlers but was moved to Golden West College when OCC’s fields were found to be too wet for play.
After a slow first two innings, the Rustlers started to come alive in the third, with the first run scored by sophomore Colin Hoffman. Soon after sophomore Brent Tani hit a double, enabling Mario Gordon to run home for the second run of the game. Sophomore A.J. Bayus’ single led to runs scored by both Tani and Alec Rosales, ending the third inning with a 4-0 lead over the Pirates.
Freshman John Spirk kicked off the bottom of the fourth inning with a sharply hit single. Next batter sophomore Jordan Tripp was walked to first. Then Cody Webber successfully performed a sacrifice bunt, which allowed each runner to advance.
The next batter, Hoffman, was also walked and that loaded up the bases. Then Gordon’s hit enabled Spirk to run home for an RBI. Next lefty Tani’s base hit straight down the middle brought both Tripp and Hoffman home for Tani’s second and third RBIs of the game.
At the end of the fourth the score was 7-0 Rustlers. The top of the fifth was characterized with a few scares with solid hits by Pirate batters, Golden West outfield pulled through, allowing no change on the scoreboard.
In the bottom of the fifth, excitement mounted as bases were loaded, but the inning ended with no change in score.
The sixth inning proved uneventful, with the same solid pitching by sophomore Chris Devenski as seen throughout the rest of the game. When asked about his exemplary pitching that no doubt helped lead to a win against a rival team, pitcher Chris Devenski, “D-Vo” as his teammates refer to him said, “Yeah, I was confident. I pitched really good, my arm feels good. I just had to get mentally ready, and we beat them. It feels good.”
“D-Vo” continued his successful pitching through the top of the seventh as well, with nothing close accomplished by the Pirates.
In the bottom of the seventh Spirk hit a double which set up his run home for the last Rustler score of the game.
The eighth inning proved routine, except for a controversial call on a hit by Tani. In a final effort, the Pirates pushed across three runs in the top of the ninth, but it was not enough.
There is a rematch against the Pirates at Golden West College on March 23 at 2 p.m.
