After blowing three separate leads, the baseball team had enough pop in its bats to defeat the L.A. City Cubs 12-9, Friday at Warrior Field.
“A slugging duel,” assistant coach Tom Bergeron said. “The Cubs are down in the standings, but they kept on playing.”
The Warriors ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak, outscoring their opposition 88-24. They finished in second place in the South Coast Conference with an overall record of 28-6 and 19-5 in the SCC.
Next up are the Southern California Regional playoffs. In the opening round, the fifth-ranked Warriors will host the No. 12 ranked Palomar College Comets Saturday at 1 p.m.
“We’re not going to change anything in the playoffs,” coach Greg Bergeron said. “We’re going to do what got us to the point we’re in right now.”
Due to budget cuts, the playoffs will be a one game-elimination processes, something Tom Bergeron said he doesn’t like.
Some teams the Warriors will face may have one good pitcher who can completely shut down an offense, and that’s something that the Warriors lack this year.
“We have a lot of guys we could throw at them, but nobody who’s considered a real ace,” Tom Bergeron said.
Offensively, the Warriors have been hitting on all cylinders and look to keep the momentum going into the playoffs. The offense has been led by Larry Williams the Most Valuable Player in the SCC. The freshman first baseman hit .469, six home runs and 55 runs batted in.
The offense does not end with Williams; he has support from sophomores Travis LeBouf, Anthony Garcia, Ryan Sharman and Bart Babineaux. Leadoff hitter LeBouf batted .381 with 16 stolen bases; Garcia hit .350 with four home runs; Sharman hit .376, nine home runs and 45 RBIs.
However, Babineaux will be a key ingredient during the playoffs. He struggled most of the year as opposing pitchers simply pitched around him, but he still ended up hitting .304, three home runs, 29 RBIs, while stealing 16 bases.
“I’ve tried to stay positive and turn it around,” Babineaux said. “Hopefully, I can end up on a good note.”
“This year, everyone is a tight-knit group,” LeBouf said. “That’s awesome.”
Another advantage besides playing on their home turf is that they will be well rested, since they haven’t played a game in almost a week.
“We get a little rest, especially our pitchers,” LeBouf said. “Everyone is a little tired because we’ve played three games in four days.”
During last Friday’s game, the Warriors took an early 9-3 lead, but let it slip away in the top of the seventh inning with two outs. Freshman Daniel Quintero highlighted the six run-inning, connecting on a three-run home run that tied the game at nine.
The Warriors rebounded quickly, scoring three runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman Kevin Highwart scored the winning run on a long triple by fellow freshman Kris Medlen.
“This is a tough team,” assistant coach Ryan Kisner said. “They never give up, and good teams have that quality.”
