By Ravi Surampudi
Staff Writer
The AVC baseball
team record was 4-7. The team is 2-1 in conference play. They played an
important conference game against Chaffey. This was the first of a three-game
series with Chaffey.Freshman
Chris Unger pitched on Feb. 28.He
struck out the leadoff hitter and gave up a home run to the second batter of
Chaffey. This made the score 1-0 Chaffey. In the bottom of the first inning,
AVC had a chance to score but Steven Tremlin struck out to end the threat.
The second through
fourth innings there were no other runs and the score stayed the same at 1-0
Chaffey. The bottom of the fifth inning is when AVC started scoring runs.
Enrique Alvarado singled and then stole second base. Nolan Almodovar doubled to
left field to score Alvarado, to even the score. “I thought I could make it to
second base, it was worth the risk to score the tying run,” Alvarado said.
Harrick doubled to right field to score Almodovar to make the score 2-1. The
score stayed the same until the bottom of the seventh inning when AVC added an
insurance run to make the score 3-1.
Jack Sheeley came
into the game in the eighth inning and shut down Chaffey offense in both the
eighth and ninth inning. Sheeley said, “ I have the mindset of shutting the
Chaffey offense down in the late innings. I look at my appearance as more of a
relief situation rather than pressure situation. None of the Chaffey hitters
could touch my slider; it was an unhittable pitch for me. I feel comfortable
either starting or relief pitching.”
“I will be the starter in the finale of
the three game series against Chaffey. Feb. 28 and March 1. I typically play
first base and concentrate on my hitting. Watching the other pitchers pitch on
Saturday is a huge help.” Tremlin said. “Pitching is huge, Chaffey hitters were
shut down after the home run. I was worried about the errant throw over my
head, but I focused to keep the runner on first.”
“Offense needs to
step up, I get bad run support when I pitch and it bothers me.” March 1 pitcher
Andrew Rabiej said.
Coach Livermore
said, “the team is learning how to play together, using different lineups and
we are catching our stride. Chaffey is a powerhouse is a big win. The team
played solid defense behind pitcher Chris Unger. Sheeley picked up the save.
There were key hits in key situations.” Livermore continued, “March 1 in
Chaffey and March 3 game at AVC. Andrew Rabiej’s keys are to have confidence,
throw a lot of strikes give the best he can and show confidence.
The baseball team
is now 5-7, their next games against Chaffey are at Chaffey on March 1 and the
March 3 game is at home at noon.
