Barons varsity baseball fell to Marina in all three games in their most recent Sunset League series. After losing 2-0 in the opening game, the Barons never fared better against the Vikings losing their second game 5-10 and their last game by a score of 0-1.
In the opening game of the series, the Barons struggled to knock any balls off the Marina starting pitcher totalling only three hits in the contest.
The Barons played equally strong defense throughout six innings of play. The Barons narrowly escaped danger in the fourth but Monty Plattner(’13), who pitched from the fourth inning on, and Joey Lorenger(’14), who started things off, were able to keep the shutout together until the very last inning.
Errors, which ended up plaguing the Barons more than once this series, played a role in the seventh inning. A misplayed grounder allowed a runner into scoring position and the batter to first. After the runners moved over on a bunt a wild pitch allowed the man on third to score. Before the Barons could end the inning, the Vikings scored again to snatch the second run of the game and the inning.
The Barons could not find any offense to answer back and the game remained at 0-2, and the series started on the wrong foot for Fountain Valley.
The next game for the Barons was the equivalent of falling into a 6 foot hole. The Vikings dominated the first inning of play in which the Barons allowed five runs. The Barons did not get an out until the fifth batter, the Vikings stole four bases over the course of the inning and the Barons seemed dismayed by the barrage. Coach LaRuffa, looking to salvage the game, substituted starting pitcher Lee Perri(’12) for Joey Lorenger after four runs were already on the board. Lorenger came out of the inning giving up another run and the Barons had a long road to climb.
The Barons needed a response from their offense. After two outs, the bottom of the order was able to muster up a run as Connor Bitzer(’12) hit a single scoring Brock Lundquist(’14) for the first run of the game for the Barons. Although the Barons had two men on base, they could not generate another hit in the inning.
The Barons fell further into a hole in the bottom of the second inning. Two steals by a Viking batter put him on third in scoring position. He was easily hit in and the Vikings scored another later in the inning to go up 7-1.
Unlike the second inning the top of the third saw no response from the Barons.
Conversely the Vikings added to their lead even more in the third. The same pattern of single-steal-run scored another run for the Vikings. In yet another pitching change for the Barons, Nic Yang(’13) relieved Lorenger. Much like Lorenger in the first, Yang was stuck in a jam and gave up a run early. After allowing a hit and walking a batter, the bases loaded up and Yang found himself in another jam. He was able to get the last out cleanly on a pop fly. Now down 1-9, the Barons were fighting a losing battle. There were still three more innings to play.
Hope shattered in the fourth with another negative inning for the Barons. After not scoring a run on offense, Yang gave up a solo homerun to round out the score at 1-10 going into the fifth.
The rest of the way the Barons put up a fight and in the fifth and sixth innings the Barons scored four runs to the Vikings one. However, the gap was too wide to cross for the boys and they fell by a final score of 5-11. Despite the poor result, Jordan Lucio(’13) totaled three out of five of the Barons RBIs, and Brock Lundquist went four for four on the day.
With the series already dropped to the Vikings, the Barons focused on their overall record which was coming dangerously far below the five hundred level at 3-7.
Monty Plattner(’13) started the game for the Barons and ended up pitching all seven innings to go along with a stellar three-hit-one-run game. The Baron offense was not as stellar. After seven innings of play, the Barons barely managed off three hits and scored no runs.
Errors, much like the first game, caused the fall of the Barons in game three. In the third inning, Brock Lundquist made an error on a throw to first and an out turned into a possible run. The worst came to fruition and the Vikings scored the unearned run, the only run of the game.
The pitchers duel ensued the rest of the game shutting out the Barons and Vikings offense the rest of the game for a final score of 0-1.
The Barons were mightily outplayed in the series. Many of the players echoed the fact, “That was the only team we really struggled against this year and it stems from last year as well,” said senior Christian Rodriguez(’12).
The Barons are now one for three in series play, 4-8 in league play, but 13-9 overall. However, playoff hopes are in jeopardy if the Barons cannot win at least the last two series. This week the Barons play first place Los Alamitos Griffins. This next series essentially holds the fate of the Barons. If the boys win both games then playoff hopes are alive and plausible; if they lose even one, then most likely, the Barons will be playing a short season.
