The Warriors baseball team hosted the Pasadena City College Lancers Thursday in the second of a three-game series, winning 10-2. The win puts EC level with Pasadena at the bottom of the conference standings.
The Warriors had a pretty close game early on against the Lancers, opening up early with a run in the bottom of the first inning. An RBI single by freshman right-fielder Jonathan Pasillas brought in sophomore left-fielder Alex Turner for the run.
After conceding two runs in the top of the fourth inning, the Warriors reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with two runs scored. The first was scored when right-fielder Jonathan Pasillas hit a triple to bring in sophomore second baseman Joseph Cortez for the first run.
The second run was scored when freshman first baseman Jake Sahagian hit a single to bring in Pasillas for the 3-2 lead.
First baseman Jake Sahagian said that these extra couple of runs in the sixth was the real turning point in the game for the Warriors.
After holding on to the 3-2 lead for another two innings, the Warriors came out strong in the bottom of the eighth inning, earning an impressive seven runs against the Lancers to give them the 10-2 lead for the win.
Sophomore short stop Fred Smith said this was really a turning point in the game for the Warriors.
“I would say the eighth inning, when we blew it up,” Smith said. “We really rallied, and didn’t give up.”
The Warriors had a very good day at the plate, recording an incredible 21 hits against Lancer pitchers Isaac Holguin, Jonathan Hopkins, and Anthony Mizrahi. The biggest hitters on the day for the Warriors were sophomore Joseph Cortez, freshman Pasillas, and freshman third baseman Ricardo Serrano, all of whom recorded three hits.
Coach Nate Fernley felt the hitting was one of the key factors in the victory against Pasadena.
“You know, when you get 21 hits,” Fernley explained, “you feel really good.”
The Warriors also showed incredible strength on the mound against the Lancers, sophomore Chris Alcala pitched a full eight innings before being relieved by sophomore Dalton Erb in the ninth inning. Alcala had a strong game against Pasadena and only allowed three hits and two runs scored.
In his eight innings pitched, Alcala also threw six strikeouts against the Lancers. Coach Fernley said that Alcala’s start and finish against Pasadena was a great advantage in their victory.
Even though the Warriors are starting to earn some wins, the team still feels they have some things to work on.
“We need to get more runs early,” Jake Sahagian said, “and get more bats early.”
Coach Nate Fernley feels that his team could still use some work at the plate.
“We need to work on our situational hitting, because it’s not great,” Fernley said. “We keep getting strikeouts with runners in scoring positions, so we need to work on that too.”
The Warriors are now on a two-game winning streak and have improved their record to 12-9, as well as their conference record to 2-6. The Warriors play the last game in this three-game series at Pasadena on Saturday, March 21.
