By Declan Chin
Staff Writer
Photos by Hana Tyszka
The baseball team lost its first Rio Hondo League game against Temple City on Friday, March 18. The 7-0 defeat now puts the Tigers’ record at 6-3 overall and 0-1 in league.
The game looked prosperous for the Tigers in the beginning. Senior Brandon Louie started off the game clean with a three-up-three-down first inning. South Pas followed this up with a single from junior Kevin Park, who then advanced to second on a bad throw. A beautiful bunt from sophomore Matt Walker put park in scoring position. Unfortunately, the offense failed to make any more contact, fizzling out the drive.
From there, Temple City took over the game. In the second, numerous Tiger errors cost South Pas four runs. The momentum from the first inning had completely shifted, and a Tiger victory seemed unlikely.
The Rams kept the pressure in the third with perfect singles in the gaps of the South Pas defense. Louie was throwing strikes, but the Rams offense kept making contact. Park completed an impressive double play, Temple City still came out of the inning with another additional run, leaving the score at 0-5.
South Pas came close to making a comeback in the fourth. Senior designated hitter Connor Dolan hit a hard single to right, sparking the offensive spirit. Errors from the Rams loaded the bases for the Tigers. But again, South Pas failed to capitalized and remained down.
The game was all but finished in the fifth inning after two more runs from Temple City, marking the last runs of the game.
Baseball’s next match is against Adelanto in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 19 at home.
