With a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday and the bases loaded with one out against Cerro Coso, closer Percy Perez threw a fastball that plunked the batter on the foot to bring in a run and make the score 7-6, giving the Warriors their fourth loss of the season and third by walk-off.
“I kind of slipped off of the mound, and threw a bad pitch,” Perez said, “We are tired of losing like this and it won’t happen again.”
The Warriors, who face Antelope Valley at home today at 2 p.m. have struggled with fielding, hindering their inability to finish games.
Third baseman Dan Gleiberman committed an error to put men on first and third. That is when coach Nate Fernley brought in Perez to close the inning. Perez walked the next batter to load the bases and set up the double play. However, a bad pitch hit the batter putting the Warriors at a disadvantage.
“Defense has let us down in a couple of these games this year,” Fernley said, “I don’t think this will be a reoccurring problem in league.”
During the first two games of the series, the Warriors out slugged Cerro Coso 15-4 and 14-4 on Friday night and Saturday morning respectively. The team also had good pitching performances from starters Kellen Moen, who is 1-0 with a 2.80 ERA. Ken Gravely, who leads the team with a 3-0 record and boasts a 3.20 ERA, also had a dominant performance.
With league play just a week away, the team has set its aspirations on repeating as league champs. To do that, the team must continue to use their hitting capabilities. The offense is led by power hitting first baseman Ramon Marquez, who has a .571 hitting average, with four home runs and twenty-four runs batted in, and outfielder Billy Madden, who is hitting .350 with 2 home runs. Madden dedicates the Warriors’ hitting success to their teamwork and unselfishness at the plate.
“We build off of each other; it’s a complete team effort,” Madden said. “Either the people in the top of the order like Matt Mercier will get on and Ramon or I will get them in, or we will get on and the people at the bottom of the lineup will get us in”
The Warriors’ teamwork will be put to the test their grueling 24-game league schedule that spans from February to May. The team has set its goals and knows what it takes to get where they want to be.
When asked about his team’s chances to repeat as league champs, Fernley said, “We think we can do it, there are a lot of good teams out there, but we think we can win it all.”
