by Heather Morales
Staff Writer
Right now the Leopards are tied 8-7 with Whittier for fourth place in SCIAC making this weekend’s series with the Poets a crucial one in the season.
“La Verne has never been in the bottom four of the conference,” said head coach Owen Wright. “It should be a good match-up. The winner is going to be who’s in a better frame of mind.”
To be ready for this weekend, the Leopards must put last weekend behind them.
It could have been the record that Stag right fielder Tyler Laughery broke, but it was the lack of comparable offense that was the cause of La Verne’s three game sweep by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps last weekend, 6-1, 16-6 and 11-9.
After the three game loss, Wright told his team not to come to practice until Wednesday and locked the field.
“I’m hoping that they come back to practice with a more positive attitude, wanting to play for the fun of baseball and not the pressure to win,” Wright said on Monday.
On Saturday at Acre Field in Claremont, La Verne struggled at the plate to compete with the Stags and Laughery, as he broke a CMS home run record with 11 on the season in the second game of the doubleheader.
La Verne lost the first game 16-6 as freshman Maynard McClarrinon, (4-4), threw six and one fourth innings and gave up 10 hits before freshman Andy Davis came in to relieve him.
The Leopards scored early in the first game as sophomore designated hitter David Riffle scored in the second inning to give La Verne a 1-0 lead. It did not last as CMS tied the game in the third and fifth, then scored five more to increase its lead.
In the sixth, sophomore first baseman Eric Britton scored on an error by CMS third baseman Scott Robertson.
The Stags were unrelenting in their offense, scoring three in the seventh and four in the eighth, while La Verne could not find its way to the bases until the eighth when the Leopards started a four run rally.
It would not be enough though, because the CMS defense was working just as hard as its offense and kept La Verne from scoring any more runs. The final was 16-6.
“We’re struggling with all phases of the game,” said Wright.
It was the Stag defense again that held the Leopards to one run in the second game.
In the third, junior second baseman Lyle Miller, scored on an error by Laughery.
With senior Sean Caldwell, (4-4) on the mound for the entire game, the Leopards allowed CMS to score six runs on 12 hits and that included two home runs for a 6-1 final.
In the first inning, Laughery tied the CMS home run record with a two run bomb over the left field fence. He broke it in the eighth with a solo shot to the same place.
“We were mentally crushed after Friday’s loss,” said Wright.
On Friday, La Verne had a 9-6 lead over CMS going into the ninth inning and gave up five runs in the bottom of the ninth to lose, 11-9.
