COSTA MESA, Calif. – The ninth ranked Lions (32-10, 19-7) hosted San Diego Christian (3-34, 0-26) for the first half of a "road" series being played at Dean Harvey Field. Despite being on their home turf, the Pride batted first and walked off the field with 9-3 and 11-5 victories.
What Happened? The game began with a solo homerun by Joe Johnson (JR/Medford, OR) to deep center field but was equaled by SDC in the bottom of the second. Vanguard began to slowly take the lead by scoring a run in the fourth and sixth innings. In the seventh inning, they scored two on a triple from Isaiah Lee (JR/Santa Ana, CA) and the third off a double in the next at bat. Trailing 6-1, the Hawks chipped back into it. The Blue and Gold weren't happy with the three-run margin and used an error and a two-run homerun from Grady Conner (SR/Costa Mesa, CA) for the final 9-3 score.
In the second contest, the Hawks hit the scoreboard first using a triple to right field and a sacrifice fly to net a pair of runs. With the bases loaded and no outs punched, Lee doubled down the left field line to tie the game 2-2. After a walk loaded the bases once again, Luke Arias (SO/Spring Valley, CA) singled through the right side to plate another two. With two outs away, Landon Riker (SR/Marysville, WA) hit a two RBI single which gave the Pride a commanding 6-2 advantage. They continued to pour it on in the top of the fifth – plating four. Omar Ortiz (SR/Las Vegas, NV) scored on a Conner sacrifice fly, Elijah Weeks (JR/Murrieta, CA) and Tommy Rodriguez (SO/Yucaipa, CA) scored on Riker's double, and then Aversa scored on a wild pitch. San Diego Christian was able to take advantage of four free bases in the bottom of the fifth to close it to a 10-5 difference. In the final inning, the only addition to the scoreboard was a solo homerun to right by Conner.
Why It's Important? In program history, the Pride is 52-18 against SDC including 18 in a row, six of which have occurred this season. Currently, the Lions hold a one-game lead against Hope International whom they hold the tiebreaker over, and a three-game advantage over Westmont in the GSAC West Standings. Vanguard is searching for their first GSAC Championships – regular season or tournament – in school history. This is the second-best start to a season for the Blue and Gold, just narrowly edged by the 32-9-1 start to the 2016 season.
Top Performers: Tyler Armenta (JR/Anaheim, CA) (5-2) took the hill in the opener and tossed 7.2 innings and allowed 10 hits but only three runs allowed on 80 pitchers. Lee was on fire in the box, going 4-5 in Game One along with three RBI and a pair of runs scored and Johnson was 2-4 with two walks and three runs scored. Ortiz was 3-4 while Matthew Land and Kevin Miser (JR/Ridgefield, WA) were 2-4. Michael Kashou (SR/Anaheim, CA) (7-3) went five full innings, striking out four and allowing five runs. In Game Two, Lee went 2-3 with a pair of RBI while Riker bounced back with 2-5 hitting and a trio of runs batted in. Buckson was also 2-4 with a walk and a run scored.
What They Said: Tyler Armenta – "It felt good to attack the zone early and trust my defense to make some plays behind me." Isaiah Lee – "Pitching did great for us today and our hitters, contact was solid all the way one through nine, so we did good and hoping to care it into tomorrow."
What's Next: Vanguard will host San Diego Christian once again tomorrow, April 17th for a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m.
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