With two games remaining in the regular season against the Compton Tartars, the Warrior baseball team is poised to make the playoffs and they can do just that with a win today at the Compton center.
The team put itself in this position by winning a critical home game against the first place Cerritos Falcons on Tuesday.
“I think we did what we had to do, we played really well after giving them a few runs in the first couple of innings,” Coach Nate Fernley said.
The Warriors struck early getting two runs in the first two innings but broke the game open with a three-run fifth capped off by a two-run double by first baseman Ramon Marquez.
“I wasn’t hitting up to that point,” Marquez said. “I finally got a pitch I liked and put a good swing on it.”
The strong offensive effort by the Warriors, which included a 3-4 outing by third baseman Bob Hosken, coincided with a great pitching performance from freshman ace Kellen Moen.
Moen pitched eight innings while allowing just one earned run and striking out 13 batters. Travis Goins pitched a perfect ninth inning to record a save, but the spotlight was certainly on the great performance from Moen.
“It felt good, especially since they had the walk off win on Saturday,” Moen said. “We have been waiting a couple of days to get back at them and we did.”
The win on Saturday assured Cerritos of at least a share of the South Coast Conference championship. EC has a chance at a share of the title if it wins the next two games and Cerritos loses twice to Mt. SAC.
With the chance to clinch second place and a playoff berth today, the Warriors now turn to freshman pitcher Beau Hopps in hopes of a strong performance on the mound.
“Our main objective right now is to win both games and not worry about what they do, we just want to get our spot and then go from there” Hopps said.
If the Warriors are able to get into the playoffs they know they will have to step up the intensity in order to succeed. In the kind of playoff format that they are in, there is little room for error.
“You try to do what you do in the regular season and take it one game at a time but there is a lot more emotion in playoff baseball,” Fernley said. “The key is to deal with that emotion so that you can play the same level of baseball that you have been playing in the regular season.”
As the regular season comes to an end with today and tomorrow’s games, the team has been playing well heading into a postseason that is going to be a big test for the young team.
“We’re playing well now, and I think as we prepare for the week of the playoff game we’ll talk about how to deal with the emotions of it all,” Fernley said.
