Head coach Stefan McGovern and the West Hills College baseball team brought its record back to .500 on Sunday with two wins over Antelope Valley College. The Falcons took game one by a score of 9-3 and won the nightcap 14-7. As a team the Falcons are hitting .344, which ranks them #1 in batting average across the state of California.
"Today our pitchers were able get ahead in counts," said McGovern. "We were throwing first pitch strikes and letting our defense get to work. On days like today it is easy for guys to get distracted, but we stayed locked in all 18 innings. We need to use this momentum and get ready for a tough schedule ahead of us."
Game 1:
Freshman Chad Gotto took the ball for West Hills to start the day. Gotto allowed two runs and eight hits in his seven innings of work, while also striking out six Marauder batters.
In the third inning Trent Bollman brought in the first run of the day for West Hills with an RBI single that scored Evan Richards.
Antelope Valley answered back in the bottom of the fourth inning with a two-run homerun to take the lead.
A sacrifice fly off the bat of Alante Uribe in the fifth inning brought the score back even at two. Matt Siedem then gave West Hills the lead with an RBI single to left field that plated Torin Miller.
In the seventh inning an RBI single from Torin Miller and an Antelope Valley wild pitch brought in two more Falcons runs.
RBI's from Miller, Siedem, and Scotty Ingle completed a West Hills four run ninth inning.
Right-handed pitcher Brian Perales came in the eighth inning and stuck out three Marauder batters and allowed one run for the save.
Game 1 final: West Hills 9 – Antelope Valley 3
Game 2:
Southpaw Spencer Hammond took the ball to start game two. Hammond allowed four runs in his five innings of work.
West Hills jumped to an early game two lead with an RBI double from Uribe in the top of the first inning. Next up, Brandon Barker slapped a single to center field to bring in Uribe.
The Marauder's responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning, and three more runs in the bottom of the second inning. West Hills found itself down 4-2 after two innings of play.
Alante Uribe brought the Falcons one run closer with a solo shot in the top of the third inning. The homerun is Uribe's second of the season. Uribe now has a team leading 20 RBI's on the season.
In the top of the fourth inning Bollman got things going with a two RBI double to left field that scored Richards and Isaiah Daniel. Uribe then followed up with a single to score Bollman.
Torin Miller was first out of the bullpen for the Falcons. Miller allowed no hits and no runs in his one inning of work.
Bollman came up again in the sixth inning and tripled to deep right field to score Brandon Hernandez. A single from Uribe then brought in another Falcons run. After six innings of play West Hills led 8-4.
Freshman Cody Lorenzini was next in on the mound for his first collegiate appearance. Lorenzini allowed one hit and struck out one batter in his one inning of work.
Uribe came up to bat again in the seventh inning and drove in three more runs with a double down the left field line. Barker then singled to drive in Uribe.
A pair of singles in the ninth inning from Richards and Bollman capped off a 14 run game for the Falcons.
Right-handed hurler Jaret Olson was set to close the game for West Hills on the mound. Olson struck out two Antelope Valley batters and allowed one run.
Sophomores Alante Uribe and Trent Bollman both had six hits in the doubleheader, as Uribe had 3 doubles, one home run, and 8 RBI's. Bollman had two doubles, one triple and 5 RBI's.
Game two final: West Hills 14 – Antelope Valley 7
Next up: The Falcons next game will be Friday, February 24th at Victor Valley College. First pitch scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
For the latest on Falcons baseball, including news and score updates, follow @whcbaseball on Twitter.