COSTA MESA, Calif. - One down, two to go. That is the mindset that the Lions have for the rest of this series as #18 Vanguard (22-7-1,12-4) picked up a big win against #6 Westmont (23-5, 13-3) to close the gap in the race for the GSAC conference title. Pitcher Chris Lumanlan started the day for the Blue and Gold and had a solid performance on the fill. He was followed up by Michael Ostrea (SR/Buena Park, CA) in the eighth and Michael Jordan (SR/Murrieta, CA), who leads the conference with saves. They both put on stellar play from the mound with Jordan striking out two of the final three batters of the game to seal the victory. On offense, Brandon Sandoval (JR/Fallbrook, CA), Bryce Wetherell (SO/Chattaroy, WA), and Matt Harris (SR/Seaside, CA) all earned runs in the game.
In the beginning of the game, both defenses came to play for their respective teams as there was a constant back and forth action that continued through the first four innings. One of the great defensive plays in the game came in the top of the first inning, when the Lions turned a double play that quickly got their offense back on the field. During this defensive contest, the tension slowly began to build between the two sidelines as every time it looked like the first score was going to be tallied.
"Coming into the game we all knew that Chris had it in him to give us a solid outing against a very quality Westmont team and it was all going to depend on how well he could execute his pitches," Sandoval stated. "From the first pitch of the game 'till his last, he dominated a good lineup and his outing really set the tone for us to have a great series against Westmont."
During the bottom of the fifth, this trend however ended when the Lions were able to capitalize on the big defensive stop from earlier in the inning and generate momentum that drew the crowd into the game. Harris started it off with a double out toward left field, then this was followed up with Sam Neufeld (FR/Indio, CA) connecting on a single and a Sandoval walk that forced the pressure onto the Warriors to stop this hitting streak of the Blue and Gold. Brock Eissman (JR/San Clemente, CA) helped to put the score on the board with a fly ball out to left field that brought Harris home for the first point of the game. Late in the eighth inning, they put up two more runs to give a larger buffer for their stellar bullpen to close out the win.
Next up for the Lions is a double header against Westmont at home to try to complete the series sweep and put them out front in the GSAC championship race. The game will be on Thursday starting at 11am.
-GOLD PRIDE-
