Despite beating Mt. San Antonio College over the weekend, the El Camino baseball team felt its pitching wasn’t at its usual standards.
Enter freshman pitchers’ Ricky Ramos and Kenneth Haus to rectify that sentiment.
Ramos went six innings on Tuesday, allowing only five hits and striking out five, while Haus finished the last three innings with five more strikeouts and just one hit in a 9-0 shutout of visiting Mt. SAC.
“Redemption,” Warriors coach Nate Fernley said.
The win was the eleventh in a row for the Warriors (19-2, 6-0).
“Everything clicked,” Haus, who earned a second save for the season, said. “Ramos had a great six innings.”
The pitchers weren’t the only ones taking out the Mounties.
In the third inning, Ramos, who is now 4-0 in seven starts this season, appeared in trouble as Mt. SAC had runners at first and second with the top of the Mounties’ lineup coming to the plate.
The Mounties’ Ryon Knowles hit a single to load the bases, but Brandon Bradshaw had his foul pop-up snagged by the Warriors’ sophomore Angel Mora in the vicinity of the Mt. SAC dugout. Knowles was later taken out by a quick throw to second base.
Fernley said that effort, along with leaving a Mt. SAC batter stranded on second in the fourth after opening the inning on a double, kept momentum on EC’s side.
The Warriors most impressive offensive feat came from sophomore outfielder Noah Barba, who barely made it to third base in time on a two-RBI triple in the fourth inning.
Barba said he took the gamble to allow Mora and sophomore outfielder Ryan Eastburn the chance to cross home plate.
“He bust his butt to make that triple,” Ramos said.
Along with the two-RBI triple, Barba finished the day with two runs, going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk in his at-bats.
Freshman outfielder Cody Wissler went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while adding a run and a double. Sophomore infielder Hunter Lewis hit a double to go 1-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.
Fernley was also impressed with Barba’s efforts.
“He cut it close there,” Fernley said. “Luckily the throw (to third) was high. A good throw and he’s probably out there.”
