2008 Woodie Awards
Valley Baseball Slams Pierce 5-3
Eddie Baeza dominates once again as the Monarchs defeated the Pierce Brahmas and reaches a ten win streak on Saturday.
Sam Hahn
Issue date: 4/27/05 Section: Sports
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The Monarchs' 10th-straight victory pushes Valley's overall record to 20-12 and its Western State Conference record to 14-0. The win also gives the team a two-game lead over the Pierce Brahmas for first place in the conference.
"It feels great going from worst to first," said sophomore pitcher Jorge Olmedo, one of the three returning players from last season. "There's no comparison from last season to this year. It was hard to have fun last year, because we lost almost every game...I'm just so happy. Words can't express how good it feels."
Pitcher Eddie Baeza's solid pitching kept the Brahmas scoreless through eight innings. Valley's bats struck in the third when third baseman Luis Parra belted Ryan Paul's first pitch over the left field wall in the third inning. The homerun gave the Monarchs a 1-0 lead.
Striking again in the fourth inning, Valley pushed its lead to 2-0 as catcher Raul Perez's sacrifice fly scored left fielder DJ Lewis from third. Valley added two runs in the sixth inning as Baeza scored on a Brahma error, while catcher Raul Perez scored on a sacrifice fly by Derek Walker.
Adding a run in the seventh inning, the Monarchs led 5-0 as second baseman Robert Ninfo scored on a wild pitch by relief pitcher Greg Acheatel, after reaching base on a single.
"Offensively, we're fine," said Parra. "We're putting the ball in play and getting the clutch hits that we need."
According to Baeza and Parra, even with the offensive onslaught, key defensive plays secured the win Saturday. "The key to our win today was [the defense]," Head Coach Dave Mallas said.
Valley capitalized on numerous mental errors by the Brahmas.
It started as catcher Raul Perez threw out shortstop Steve Braun as he tried to steal. Baeza got into the mix as he picked off first baseman Derek Perren to end the inning.
Perez struck again, picking off Pierce second baseman Ryan Richardson who was thrown out at third after Baeza's throw to first baseman Matt Jordan drew Jordan off the bag as Baeza was fielding a hit by Brahma center fielder Gordon Lake.
Closer Adrian Bautista surrendered three runs in the top of the ninth inning, as the Brahmas attempted a comeback. Freshman Eddie Garcia popped out to end the game.
"Our defense was huge...just to stop their momentum was big for us," said Walker whose diving catch in the fifth inning prevented Pierce from scoring.
"Defense win ball games," Baeza said. "You can score all the runs you want, but if you don't have a good defense behind you, you can't win."
