By Ravi Surampudi
Staff Writer
AVC baseball has being playing decently in
league play. Coach John Livermore was trying to record his 100th win as AVC’s
baseball coach. Steven Tremlin, who played first base in the first two games of
the series, pitched on March 3.“I
throw fastball, change up, sinker, curveball, and slider. Fastball tops to 88
mph. Watching the other pitchers pitch before me is a tremendous help and
advantageous to me. Their offense has not been too strong in the series,” Tremlin
said. “Our pitching depth has carried us this year. Having six or seven
pitchers really relaxes me and takes the pressure off when I am pitching.”
“I
only hit one home run this year because I have been using a new bat. It is
similar to the wood bat. It was too dangerous to use the other bats that had
more aluminum in them because of all the pitchers getting injured. I hit two
doubles in Chaffey and no hits in the first home game and I hit cleanup in the
game,” Tremlin said.
“His
fastball, change up and slider are easier to catch. The curveball tends to
bounce and skips low,” Nick Monjian, the team’s catcher, said about Tremlin.“I am not really a strong hitter so I
bat seventh. When there are runners on base I hit the ball where it is pitched.
We really communicate well with a bunt situation or steal situation,” Monjian
said about his hitting.
“We
play hard on the road and take a game if we can and protect our field when the
visiting team comes to our field. Chaffey has a deeper left field which was 348
feet and center and right field was about the same at AVC,” Tremlin said.
“When a runner on first steals second, I
take the pitch so the runner can take the base so it is easier for the RBI
situation. When runners are on base, I try to hit solid contact and avoid
hitting into a double play.” Tremlin said, “We can definitely take the series
against Chaffey, and we feel that Victor Valley is easier to play so we are
confident for both the March 3 game and March 6 game.”
Tremlin gave up a run in the top of the first inning and
Chaffey was up 1-0. AVC did not score in the bottom of the first inning. There
is no score in the top of the second inning. At the bottom of the inning, AVC
started scoring runs. Tremlin started the inning with a single and went to
second on a wild pitch. Ryan Harrick walked and Jacob Resinger singled to load
the bases for Monjian. Tremlin scored on a passed ball to tie the game at 1-1.
The runners were then on second and third when Monjian loaded the bases again
for Nolan Almadovar, who hit a two- run double to give AVC a 3-1 lead. Brian
Ebert and Enrique Alvarado both struck out to end the inning.
Ebert made a diving catch in the top of the third inning, but
Tremlin gave up another run to make the score 3-2 AVC.Tremlin walked, Resinger singled,
Monjian singled in one run and Almadovar singled in another run to make the
score 5 -2 AVC.
There was no scoring in the top of the fourth
for Chaffey and the bottom of the fourth inning, Jack Sheeley hit a double and
that was it for the inning. At the Bottom of the fifth inning, Tremlin struck
out, Harrick grounded out and Resinger struck out. In the top of the sixth
inning, Chaffey failed to score. During the bottom of the inning, Almadovar
reached third but failed to score.
In the top of the seventh inning, Tremlin gave
up a single but did not allow a run. In the bottom of the inning, Sheeley
singled, Tremlin popped out to right, Harrick flied out to center and Resinger
grounded out.
In the top of the eighth, Zack Myas replaced
Tremlin and Dylan Livingston replaced Monjian as catcher. Myas shut down
Chaffey in the inning. AVC failed to capitalize in the eighth Myas retired
Chaffey quickly to earn his second save of the season as AVC won the game by a
score of 5-2.
“I
did not perform my best individually but this is a team sport and I am happy
that the team won the series against Chaffey,” Harrick said.
“I
played first base today and played infield my whole life. I stole second base
when they least expected it,” Jack Sheeley said.
“I am always ready to play, ready to contribute.
I should have been more aggressive in my at bat it is something I will work on
in the future. I was happy to catch Zack Myas. He is a great pitcher, we have
solid defense and we will be fine. We feel great about the win. It was one of
our biggest wins of the year. We have a good chance against Victor Valley,”
Livingston said.
“Chaffey is experienced; I focused on keeping them off balanced with my
fastball, change up and curveball. They had no chance against my outside
fastball. I am 1-2 on the season with 5.00 ERA and pitch normally in relief
situations,” Myas said.
“That was my first career start; I went hard after them as
possible. They were guessing a lot on my fastball and changeup. We are going to
be pretty good against Victor Valley. It feels great to win against Chaffey,”
Chris Unger, who pitched on Feb. 28, said.
“To
win two out of three against Chaffey was great, especially since this game was
100th career win and my daughter is about deliver her son, who is my
grandson.” Livermore continued, “When we play, the pitching staff pitches well
and hitters hit timely against a very good Chaffey team. “Jack Sheeley will be
pitching on March 6. The key to his game is location and where he spots his pitches.I love the fact that television is
here, AV press is here and Examiner is here. Our best season recently was the
2007 baseball season when we third in conference and they only took two teams
to playoffs. Rio Hondo in our conference is currently 5-0, and it is a long
time since we last made playoffs,” Coach Livermore said.
The AVC baseball team is now 6-8 and beat
Chaffey 2-1 in a best of three series. The next home game for AVC will be on
March 8 at 2 P.M.
