Crack. Crack. Bing.

These were the sounds heard around the field as the Warriors pummeled Compton to win their final game of the season.

“We finally broke out of our shell,” Josh Rose, pitcher, said. “We came together as a team and were able to put up some runs.”

Not even the people in charge of the scoreboard could handle Friday’s debacle as it was turned off in the seventh inning out of respect to the visiting team.

“It’s a great way to go out; obviously Compton’s not a great team, but it feels good to beat a team,” Chris Fox, centerfielder, said. “If we would have changed a couple of things during the season, it would’ve been different.”

The team jumped out early, scoring seven runs in the second and fifth innings, respectively. From there on out, it was all EC’s game.

Designated hitter Billy Hernandez ignited the crowd with a superb performance; he went four for four with a home run and five RBIs.

Fox also had a big game as he went five for eight with a home run and three RBIs.

Left fielder Tino Gomez matched Fox, batting five for eight, scoring four runs with one of them on a solo home run to right field.

Other notable players were first baseman Mike Zuanich and catcher Miguel Juarez. Zuanich went three for three with a pair of doubles which drove in four runs.

Juarez went two for three including a grand slam during the seventh inning to the right centerfield fence.

“We all really put everything together in this last game,” coach Tom Bergeron said. “We are a better team than our record shows.”

“We have had good games before, but this was just a great game for us,” he said.

Picking up the victory against Compton was pitcher Craig Ganser, who pitched five shutout innings, allowing only three hits while striking out four.

The Warriors’ bullpen, consisting of pitchers Darnell Reed, Josh Rose, Keith Silva and Paul Croghan, held the Tartars to only one run and five hits during four innings.

“We are a young team,” Fox said. “This was a new experience for some of us and I think we did the best we could; next year is going to be a whole different story.”

The Warriors finished on a positive note winning their last three games of the regular season.

Nonetheless, it has been a bumpy year for the team.

The team started its season off sloppy, losing five of its first six games, and then went on a roll, winning eight of 11 games only to drop the next eight of 11.

However, the Warriors just could not find a steady pace.

The team ended up finishing sixth in the South Coast Conference with a record of 13-11.

Overall, the team finished three games a over .500 average with a 19-16 record.

“Baseball is a funny game in which we were not able to get the breaks that we needed,” Hernandez said. “I would not change the season for anything; they are a great group of guys and I’m really going to miss all of them.”

Depite ending sixth in the conference, the Warriors finished with the third-best batting average, .318, third-best slugging percentage, .429, and the fifth-best pitching ERA of 4.06.

Although some players leave with no regrets, some are still disappointed to know this team never reached its full potential.

“It was nice winning, but the season was a bit heart-breaking,” Gomez said. “We didn’t get it done; we played hard, but weren’t able to come through during some games.”

“It was a little disappointing knowing that we should have won more ball games,” Bergeron said.

With the departure of 10 sophomores, the team’s most notable returning players will be pitchers Jeff McKinley, Rose and fielders Fox and Zuanich, to name a few.

“We had a rough season,” Rose said. “We are going to take this win and roll with it into next year.”

Box Scores

Team R H E
El Camino 27 31 2
Compton 1 8 3

Player AB R H RBI
Tino Gomez 8 4 5 2
Steven De La Torre 6 4 3 0
Chris Fox 8 5 5 3
Billy Hernandez 4 3 4 5
Miguel Juarez 3 3 2 4
Bobby Nunn 2 1 0 0
Dane Braunecker 4 1 2 4
George Brunson 4 1 2 1
Shane Cauley 4 0 0 0

P. Hitters AB R H RBI
Mike Zuanich 3 1 3 4
Pablo Villicana 2 1 0 0
Matt Sannes 2 0 1 0
Juan Dorado 2 1 1 1
Mike Moretti 2 1 2 2
Charles Boyden 1 0 0 0
Richard Navarrete 1 1 1 0

Pitchers
Craig Ganser 5 IP, 0 runs, 3H, 4K
Darnell Reed 1 IP, 1 run, 2H, 1K
Josh Rose 1 IP, 0 runs, 2H, 0K
Keith Silva 1 IP, 0 runs, 1H, 1K
Paul Croghan 1 IP, 0 runs, 0H, 0K