Hope Bowser
Western Sun staff writer
The Golden West baseball team narrowly defeated the Riverside Community College Tigers 9-8 at an away game last Saturday, April 10.
The game was full of home runs for GWC, including three by Sophomore A.J. Bayus, and two by outfielder Jordan Tripp. An early 7-1 lead was compromised late in the eighth inning, leading to four pitching changes and a nervous crowd. However, the Rustlers regained their lead to win the game with Tripp’s final home run.
The first three innings proved uneventful with only one run scored by each GWC and RCC, although the first Rustler mark on the scoreboard was the first home run by Bayus.
Bayus connected again in the fourth inning, along with an RBI by Golden West to bring score to 3-1 Rustlers.
No runs were scored by either team during the 5th inning, thanks to pop-fly caught by Golden West outfield and a successful strikeout by pitcher Blake Cestr.
After a controversial pitch by RCC requiring Bayus to duck to avoid being hit, Bayus came back and hit his third home run of the game. First baseman John Spirk then hit a single, and another homerun of the inning, this time by Jordan Tripp, enabled both Spirk and Tripp to run home.
After a pitching change for the Tigers, shortstop Chris “D-Vo” Devinski connected hard with one more home run for the Rustlers, and creating a 7-1 lead.
The top of the seventh included an RBI by Tripp with Freshman John Baccari scoring the run. The seventh inning is concluded with three routine pop-flys.
No runs were scored by the Rustlers during the top of the eighth, and the bottom began with Cestr relieved by sophomore Robert Welch, leaving the game with an 8-1 lead. The first RCC batter walked to first, and after singles hit by the next two batters, the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Full count, bases loaded, no outs … and a line drive hit straight down the middle. One run was scored. Then, with bases loaded once again, the RCC batter connected hard sending the ball flying to right field, enabling two more runs to be scored, bringing the score to 8-4 Rustlers.
Another pitching change brought in freshman Barry Luke, who unfortunately allowed two more runs to be scored with a double by the Tigers batter.
The next pitching change relieved Luke with sophomore Bryan Raines, who had the same bad luck as his predecessor, adding two more Tiger runs to the scoreboard. When Devinski was brought in to relieve Raines, the teams were tied 8-8, with only one out. Luckily two consecutive pop-flys brought the inning to a close.
A.J. Bayus’ first K of the game didn’t help the anxiety as the crowd looked on, but Tripp’s second home run of the game helped the Rustlers to regain their lead, if only narrowly. The top of the 9th began with a 9-8 score, GWC.
A double play and a pop-fly brought the game to a close with no other marks on the board, much to the relief of Rustler players and fans. Although the Tigers tried to bite back, Golden West succeeded in showing them who is in charge.
The Rustlers visited Santa Ana College Tuesday (results too late for our deadline), then host the Dons on Thursday. On April 20 and 22 they have a home-and-home series against Fullerton College.
