By Declan Chin
Staff Writer
Photos by Matt Scholtz
The South Pasadena baseball team displayed its dominance over Eagle Rock with convincing 12-3 and 10-0 victories. These wins start the Tigers off with a 2-0 record on the season.
The Tigers kicked off the season with their ace, senior Brandon Louie, on the mound. Louie was in form, striking out nine batters and holding the Eagles to only one run over five innings pitched.
South Pasadena came out swinging as junior Kevin Park doubled to bring in Louie to score in the first inning. Sophomore Isaac Luevano, Louie, and Junior Noah Miyamae aided a South Pas third inning rally that resulted in five runs. The Tigers kept racking up points with strong at bats. Eagle Rock managed to score two runs once Louie left the mound, but the Tiger offense proved to be too much, leaving the game with a final score of 12-3.
The first inning of the second game started off unfavorably for the Tigers as Eagle Rock got the bases loaded in the first. However, senior Matthew Shults managed to recover a wild pitch and throw out the stealing Eagle at home to escape the inning unscathed.
Park came out of the dugout strong in the second inning, as he struck out the side. South Pas struck first with a sac fly from sophomore Jack Renken whose hit brought Park to score.
The Tiger defense had fully recovered from their shaky start and showcased their capability with an impressive diving catch from sophomore Zachary Howarth. Now, the Tigers were warmed up and looked to extend their lead. South Pas rallied singles and Eagle Rock began to show frustration. The Eagle’s pitcher hit two batters and walked one, leaving the Tigers with a 3-0.
The Tigers did not hold back and blew the game open with a base-clearing line drive double from Jack Renken, pulling the Tigers ahead to a 6-0 lead. The doors were now open for the Tigers, allowing them to score four more runs over the next four innings, and hold the Eagles to a scoreless outing, finishing the game 10-0.
“I thought we played well,” said junior Benjamin Quirk. “We were expected to win and we did exactly that. Our whole team is looking forward to a great season this year and the way we played today was a great way to start it off; we just need to keep getting better everyday and execute every play when we have the opportunity.”
Both games showed not only the potential of both the Tiger offense and defense, but their stamina over four hours of playing. They will hope to emulate this performance next week against Cathedral at home on Thursday, March 4.
