Huntington Beach, Calif. - A hard-hitting Cypress team took advantage of defensive mistakes, evening the series with a 11-9 win over the Rustlers on Thursday.
Right off the bat, two infield defensive errors brought in a pair of Cypress baserunners. A mid-inning huddle quickly settled the squad down, turning their focus over to answering those runs.
"Obviously the E5 in the first inning led to two runs. We made a bad throw, but it was more so decision making after that," Head Coach Andrew Ramos said. "I try to tell these kids that they all want to be the hero, but sometimes the best play is to tuck it – just put the ball away and give us a chance for a double play."
An explosive third inning put the Rustlers on top 6-2, but it was not enough of a lead to fend off the Chargers for the following six innings.
An RBI single by left fielder Zech Samayoa started off the scoring for the Rustlers, followed by a clutch three-run triple hit by second baseman Miles Jenkins. Center fielder DJ McEvers brought in a run with a single to center, and third baseman Matthew Olivares contributed to the board with a sacrifice fly.
"They got hot and strung some hits together. We had about 10 quality at-bats that inning with hits and walks," Ramos said. "Credit to Cypress, they answered right back with three runs and stole some momentum away from us."
Catcher Noah Estrem increased Golden West's lead to 7-5 in the fourth with a single to left center. Samayoa and Jenkins both knocked in runners later in the game, contributing to the final score of nine runs.
Starting pitcher Brett Wozniak went five innings, striking out four. He earned six of the eight runs scored against him. Of the 10 hits, two were home runs, off a slider and fastball, both hit by designated hitter Brenden Harris of Cypress.
"His fastball was good," Ramos said. "They came out ready to hit and hit some balls hard. I think the two unearned runs in the first inning got us in the hole. He was okay; he'll be fine."
Reliever Fino Amador entered the game for the sixth and seventh inning. Through two innings, Amador also gave up a home run, earned two runs, and struck out two of the nine batters faced. Down 10-8, Marco Ibarra took over for Amador in the eighth, recording a total of four outs for the Rustlers, but earning another run. The ninth inning belonged to Andrew Stanley, who shut down the Chargers' chances of doing more damage.
"The toughest part of this job, I think, is getting 18-19 year olds ready to play everyday and not get complacent," Ramos said. "I told them that's going to be a talented team that has a lot of pride and will come back and fight. That's what they did, so hopefully they now know that they are in for a dog fight, and we have a chance to win this series."
NEXT: The Rustlers will visit Cypress College in hopes of winning a three-game series on Saturday at noon.
Written By Marissa Lavezzari
