COSTA MESA, Calif. - The 18th-ranked Vanguard Lions Baseball team (2-0) took on the Corban University Warriors (0-2) in a doubleheader to kick-off their 2021 campaign. The Lions scored a combined 15 runs over the course of the day as they relied on their high-powered offense to victory in the first game and then rode Michael Kashou's gem of a second game to victory.
What Happened?
Game One: In the first, Travis Aversa (JR/Fountain Valley, CA) drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Joe Johnson (JR/Medford, OR) would bring him home with a single through the left side for the first run of 2021. The Lions loaded the bases in the second and a double through down the line on the left side by Luke Arias (SO/Spring Valley, CA) would score two. A sacrifice fly and an RBI single would score two more as the Pride would go up 6-0. Grady Conner (SR/Costa Mesa, CA) would keep things rolling in the bottom of the third as he hit a solo shot to right field to put the Lions up seven.
The Warriors would find some life as they loaded the bases in the top of the fourth and a two-out double by Morgan Hostetler would bring three home to cut their deficit to four. Aki Buckson (JR/Silverdale, WA) would tack on another run in the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot to deep left, but the Warriors would capitalize on a couple of errors by the Lions put four total runs on the board in the fifth and sixth to tie things up at seven.
Aversa immediately shifted the momentum back to the Blue and Gold as his home run to right field left in a hurry to start the bottom of the sixth. The Lions tacked on two more in the seventh as Matthew Land (JR/Eugene, OR)'s sacrifice groundout and Oscar Diaz (FR/Los Angeles, CA)'s sac fly brought in two runs to go up 10-7. Jackson Webber (JR/Bothell, WA) and Liam Neri (JR/Clinton, CT) would each pitch a shutout inning to seal the win for the Lions.
Game Two: In the bottom of the second, with runners on the corner and one out, Matthew Land would hit a double over the head of the left fielder to score one. Chad Sutton (JR/Scottsdale, AZ) would follow that up with a single through the left side to score two more as the Pride went up 3-0. In the third, Riker led off with a single and moved to third as Buckson found the gap in left for a double. Joe Johnson would step to the plate and a deep fly ball to left would score Riker from third. Grady Conner's double would score another and the Pride would extend their lead to five.
Nate Catonwine would get the Warriors on the board with a homer to left-center, but that is all the offense that either team would be able to muster as Michael Kashou (SR/Anaheim, CA) had a dominant outing with five innings pitched while only allowing two hits while striking out eight batters.
Why It's Important? It had been 335 days since the Lions last took the field, but with most of their core returning, it made for an easier transition as the team stepped into 2021. The Pride move to 3-1 all-time against Corban University, while Head Coach Rob Pegg moves one win closer to 250 career wins with the Blue and Gold.
Notable Performances: Conner went 4-5 in the first game with two singles, a double, and a home run, and then followed that up with an RBI double while drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch. Aki Buckson and Travis Aversa each recorded home runs in the first game, and Buckson went 1-1 with a double and a walk in the second game. Landon Riker (SR/Marysville, WA) would round things out as he went 4-9 with a run over the course of the doubleheader.
What They Said: "The dugout brought a lot of energy and it was awesome to get to play a college game since we haven't been able to play in a long time" said Aversa. "It was definitely upbeat. first time out there in about a year," added Riker. "So we've been working our butts off during the fall and we were all really really excited to be able to play and we came out there and just did a good job."
What's Next: The Lions get another crack at things with another doubleheader against Corban University starting at 11:00 a.m. at home.
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