Golden West was unable to contain the high-powered Orange Coast offense suffering an 8-3 loss at Hoover Field.
What started as a close ball game was quickly turned on its head after an Orange Coast (27-9, 14-7) 6-run fifth inning. The Pirates struck first with an RBI double by Justin Broussard with 1 out in the second inning. Golden West (15-21, 6-15) was able to tie the game in the third after James Stea smacked a leadoff triple and was knocked in by Frank Califano's infield single.
Orange Coast tied the game in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly and then the game got ugly. With 1 out in the fifth inning Cody Nulph produced an RBI double. Rustlers' starting pitcher Isaiah Terrazas recorded the second out, but struggled with his command loading the bases and walked in a run. Terrazas was then pulled for Hunter Stevens who let a pitch get away from him for another Pirates' run. Robert Longtree unloaded a 3-RBI triple that was just short of an inside-the-park home run as he was thrown out at the plate.
Golden West did its best to make a late comeback with the help of a Jordan Lucio RBI double that scored Andrew Yazdanbakhsh. Adam Daymude scored on a Keegan Reeser grounded out for the Rustlers' third run.
This afternoon marked the final game of the 2014 season as Golden West did not clinch a spot in the state playoffs. Twelve sophomores played in their final game as a Rustler and most of them were able to make appearances. Michael Farris, Califano, Yazdanbakhsh, Reeser, Stea and Terrazas were all penciled in the starting lineup. Doug Ralston pinch hit and Quentin McGrath threw 2 relief innings.
Despite missing the playoffs, plenty of Golden West's sophomores produced some noteworthy stats. Farris shined the brightest this season offensively leading the team with a batting average over .340 and in hits with 52. Califano was right behind him with 51 hits, an average around .330 and came in second with 15 RBI. Yazdanbakhsh lead the team with 17 RBI and produced 39 hits.
Califano owned the base paths this season swiping 20 bases in 23 attempts. The outfield was also his home running down every ball near him and showed off his throwing arm with 4 assists from center field. Yazdanbakhsh lead well behind the plate gunning down more than 30 would-be base stealers.
Golden West's pitching staff was full of sophomores and they were the ones relied on the most to get the job done. Mitchell Moore and Tanner Brown paved the way leading the team with 40 strikeouts a piece. Moore and Farris both lead with 3 victories and Terrazas topped the ERA list with one around 2.60. David Wiggins and Garrett Gibson were great help out of the bullpen leading all relievers with 20 and 13 strikeouts respectively and Gibson led all sophomore relievers with a 3.94 ERA.
