By Kim Ly
This Friday, the varsity boys’ baseball team went head-to-head against the Westminster High School Lions, dominating them with a 13-3 victory.
Being the first game of their season, the boys went out onto the field with high energy. Senior pitcher Chase Rousselo threw the first pitch of the game, easily getting a strike. Throughout the first inning, he continued striking out the Lions.
“I think this game went amazing. I came out three strikes like I wanted to,” Rousselo said.
As they transitioned over to the offensive in the bottom half of the first inning, the Barons took advantage of Westminster’s shaky pitching.
Junior Austin Kolby got an easy walk to first base before subsequently stealing second base. After Kolby, juniors Christopher Ouellette and Blake Wentz both gained walks. All bases were loaded with Kolby on third, Ouellette on second and Wentz on first.
Finally, junior Ryder Brooks stepped up to bat and gained the Barons another walk. Kolby effortlessly walked home whilst Ouellette ran third then raced home. A few more walks were given to the Barons and the first inning ended 4-0.
For the next few innings, the Barons remained strong in both defense and offense; they didn’t let Westminster score a single point. Senior Connor DeBenon made a notable defensive play with an exciting sliding catch in the outfield.
Excellent offensive plays were made with a nicely done bunt from Kolby and impressive hits from senior Ryan Sullivan. By the end of the fourth inning, the Barons led with 13-0.
“Our offensive did a great job at executing today and we were able to put a lot of runs up on the [score]board,” head coach Deric Yanagisawa said.
Their momentum started to fall a bit in the fifth inning due to a few unsteady pitches giving Westminster a few runs. Nevertheless, the Barons remained strong and ended with a score of 13-3.
Seeing the outcome of this game, Yanagisawa is excited for the rest of the season and simply wishes for his players to remain healthy.
“[W]e gotta make sure we don’t lose anyone to COVID[-19 and COVID] protocols—things like that, but mainly just stay healthy. And if we can stay healthy we can compete in this league,” Yanagisawa said.
The next boys’ varsity baseball game will be away against Ocean View High School on March 22 at 3:15 p.m.
