COSTA MESA, Calif. - What a difference one pitch can make. After falling 8-3 in the first game, Jose Rojas (JR/Anaheim, CA) belted a shot to right field for a walk off grand slam. Vanguard (32-13, 25-11) won the nightcap 5-1 in extra innings.
Game One: Westmont 8, Vanguard 3
Justin Davis (SR/Los Angeles, CA) and Rojas were both 4-2 inside the box, with the later also tacking on two RBI's. Four of the other Lions were 1-4 as batters.
Vanguard hit the board early, netting two runs in the first inning on an two RBI double from Rojas.
The Warriors started chipping away and soon took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning. An explosive eighth inning allowed Westmont to put up five more scores.
David Stone (SR/Huntington Beach, CA) blasted a homerun, but Vanguard managed to only rip off one more score in the final at bat of the game.
Scott Torrey (SR/Simi Valley, CA) (5-1) received the ball to start the game and gave up three runs and seven hits. He lasted seven innings on the mound striking out three and walking four batters.
Game Two: Vanguard 5, Westmont 1 (8 inn.)
In the final contest of the weekend series, runs were hard to come by. It was a polar opposite of the first two contests.
Westmont scored their lone run in the top of the second inning with an RBI single to left field.
The tying run for the Blue and Gold was scored in the bottom of the fourth on a single to center field which scored Davis.
Regulation could not determine a winner, so into the eighth inning the Lions went. Vanguard had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, but stranded two runners on the base paths.
The game ended on Rojas' blast to home run territory in right field. His eighth bomb of the season is a team high.
On the hill, starter Jordan Moak (SR/Sulphur, LA) tossed 5.1 innings giving up only one run on five hits. He struck out three and walked four of the 26 batters faced. Michael Jordan (JR/Murrieta, CA) pitched the other 2.2 innings giving up two hits and tallying three strikeouts.
With the bat, Stone was 1-1 with two walks plus an RBI, as well as scoring a run himself. Davis was 1-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
The Blue and Gold is on the road for the next series against neighboring Concordia. The game in Irvine is scheduled for a first pitch at 3:00 p.m.
-GOLDPRIDE-
