Lila Gongora
Staff Writer
La Verne’s baseball team opened their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season by winning two out of three games against Whittier last Friday and Saturday.
La Verne led with a 12-9 win at Ben Hines Field on Feb. 27 followed by a doubleheader at Whittier on Saturday. The Leopards ended game one with a 4-2 loss, but came back for a game two 9-0 win.
In the first game, Whittier had the upper hand against the Leopards, scoring two runs in the first inning, but La Verne countered by driving in four runs in the second.
In the third inning, an RBI single from sophomore first baseman Isaiah Figueroa brought in senior catcher Nate Perry for his second run of the game, making the score 5-2 in favor of the Leopards.
“This week we had a big emphasis on driving runs in and getting the guys in scoring position,” Figueroa said.
In the fourth inning Perry, senior third baseman Aaron Whobrey and junior center fielder Christian Takahashi scored for the Leopards to push the lead to 8-2.
Whittier drove in two additional runs in the top of the fifth, but sophomore rightfielder Jacob Castro and junior leftfielder Tommy Villanueva scored two more runs in the bottom of the inning.
Castro scored two runs and had an RBI during the series opener, accumulating a total of four hits, three runs, two RBIs and a triple throughout the series.
“As an outfielder we’re rotating a lot, so being able to stay in the game and help my team out feels really good,” Castro said. “We’re a good team of gritty guys and we enjoy long days like this even when it’s hot.”
In the seventh inning senior second baseman Aidan Salcedo hit a sacrifice fly out to right field bringing in junior centerfielder Christian Takahashi for the Leopards.
As Whittier was fighting for their runs and attempting to throw strikes on the mound, four La Verne pitchers were rotated throughout the duration of the game, keeping the Poets on their toes until they were able to score two more runs in the eighth inning.
“When you pride yourself in trying to use the effort of your team to win ball games, you need to go to the next guy when those opportunities present themselves,” head coach Scott Winterburn said. “I’m actually happy that we were able to get some more guys going and have a ‘next man-up’ mentality because that’s going to be our identity moving forward.”
The Leopards closed out the game with a score of 12-9, entering the doubleheader with a win.
“I think we looked really good today, we just have to keep going with some good at bats and refining our technique,” Perry said. “I’m looking forward to seeing our guys be tough in the box and be tough pitching.”
On Saturday, the Leopards lost game one, 4-2, as Whittier came out with strategic offensive plays.
La Verne came back in game two, however, with a 9-0 win as they stepped back into their momentum from the day before, showing off their gritty nature on both offensive and defensive sides.
The Leopards concluded this series with a conference record of 2-1 and overall record of 4-4.
The team traveled to Tucson for the Arizona Tournament this week, where they took on Concordia on Thursday. They will face Concordia again on Friday, then Gustavus Adolphus on Friday and Saturday, and finally Bethany Lutheran on Sunday.
Lila Gongora can be reached at lila.gongora@laverne.edu.
Lila Gongora is a sophomore communications major with a concentration in public relations. She is the LV Life editor for the Campus Times and previously served as a staff writer.
Aaliyah Alamillo is a junior photography major and a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine.
