Staff Writer
After an entire offseason of uncertainty and controversy, the Mira Costa boys baseball team’s preseason got underway.
Costa defeated Bellflower High School, 5-4, at home on Tuesday in extra innings, making the Mustangs’ preseason record 2-3. Sophomore pitcher Michael Rumpp pitched the first seven innings of the game and held Bellflower to only four runs.
“Everyone played well,” senior second baseman Gordon Cardenas said. “Rumpp came in with some really nice pitches.”
In the top of the first inning, senior catcher Austin Henning set the tempo by throwing out a player attempting to steal second base.
“We played really well,” senior shortstop Jack Hadley said. “Our pitching and hitting showed improvement and helped us get a win.”
In the second inning, senior third baseman Braden Casady hit a line drive up the middle for a single and was moved into scoring position by senior right fielder Garrett Wells. Cardenas then scored Casady. Senior center fielder Keyon Allen then had a hit into left field to score Cardenas. Allen then scored off of a base hit by Hadley, ending the second inning at 3-0 Mustangs.
“We had a good all-around effort,” Allen said. “We scored the necessary runs in order to help our pitcher.”
Bellflower answered the three runs with two of their own in the top of the third inning. Bellflower scored another run, tying the game at 3-3 in the top of the fourth inning. With the fifth inning underway and senior outfielder Kevin Lopez standing on first base, Henning hit a double into left-center to score Lopez and regain the lead at 4-3.
“The key was to stay calm,” Lopez said. “We capitalized on the other team’s mistakes and never gave up on the game.”
Bellflower scored the tying run at 4-4 in the top of the seventh while the Mustangs failed to score in the bottom of the inning, pushing the game into extra innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, junior first baseman Jack Webber hit a ball off the top of the fence for a double. The bases were loaded by the Bellflower pitcher hitting Hadley. A passed ball by the Bellflower catcher led to Webber stealing home and scoring the walk-off winning run.
“This was a much-needed team victory,” coach Aaron Medina said. “Everyone played well and did their part. This walk-off will build team morale immensely.”
The Mustangs’ next game was yesterday in the El Segundo Tournament, but the results were unavailable due to the time of publication.
“If we continue to play as a team throughout the season, our future looks very bright,” Allen said.
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