By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor It might have been overblown that the Pasadena-area’s best baseball team this season doubled their season loss total this week. Maranatha (16-4) went 2-2 in the San Luis Obispo Tournament against four teams under the .500 mark, so people may have thought ‘what happened?’ But in reality, the Minutemen gave […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
It might have been overblown that the Pasadena-area’s best baseball team this season doubled their season loss total this week.
Maranatha (16-4) went 2-2 in the San Luis Obispo Tournament against four teams under the .500 mark, so people may have thought ‘what happened?’
But in reality, the Minutemen gave up just seven runs in four games and their two losses (Enochs of Modesto, and St. Joseph of Santa Maria) came by a combined score of 7-4.
This past week was more about getting their pitching rotation primed for the next few weeks as the Minutemen aim for an Olympic League title and a deep run in the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs.
“We didn’t play as well as we’d like, but he did some things well, and we’ll learn from our mistakes,” Maranatha coach Matt Shupper said. “This could serve as a timely wake-up call for us.”
Maranatha will host Heritage Christian Tuesday night at 6 at Brookside Park, and then travel to Northridge to take on the Warriors on Friday at 3:30.
The Minutemen have played two less games than first-place Village Christian, but Maranatha already has one victory over the Crusaders back in late March.
“I think one of things we learned was that despite knowing we have a very good team, if we’re not playing and executing the way we’re capable of, we’re as beatable as anyone else,” Shupper said.
Marco Martinez had three hits in game two’s 9-2 victory over Morro Bay.
Dante Campione, Ben Guess and Charles Acker each had two hits apiece in the second game.
Acker also struck out 10 over 6 innings in a 3-0 victory over Golden Valley.
Eddlie Lopez had six hits in the tournament.
“We came out over confident and we got put in our place,” Lopez said. “We have to play each team at our level and to play until the very end. We realized that hard work is always going to beat out talent and that we need to get our minds right before the game starts and to not be so lackadaisical. The team overall got even closer and we feel a strong second half for us.”
The Minutemen leadoff hitter Max Blessinger had five hits.
“At this point in the season, we should know what we need to do,
Blessinger said. “We are definitely capable. Regardless of any struggles we had last week, right now it is ‘winning time.’ Time to unlock a new level of competitive nature.”
** Poly (10-7 overall, 4-1 in league) and Flintridge Prep (11-4-1, 5-2) meet up on Tuesday, and the Rebels hope to inch closer to the Panthers in the Prep League race.
Poly defeated Prep, 12-5, on March 6, and the Rebels are just one back of the Panthers in the loss column.
** La Salle had a solid St. Paul Tournament by winning three of four, but the Lancers are anxious to get back into Del Rey League play after losing a two game series to Serra two week ago.
Junior Zane Lindeman threw a no-hitter on Wednesday over San Pedro on 70 pitches in their final game of the tournament.
La Salle (11-10) will have a pair of games with last-place St. Paul, as the Lancers find themselves in third place behind Bishop Amat and Serra, respectively.
** St. Francis (6-14) has a three-game series with fourth-place Alemany, and with a sweep, they could move into fourth place in the Mission League.
The Golden Knights had a very solid St. Paul tournament, as their three wins there doubled their season total.
