In the opening game of the series, the Citrus College Owls baseball team beat the Barstow College Vikings 11-1 on April 2, at the Citrus College baseball field.
Starting pitcher Enrique Zaldivar (5-3) was the highlight of the game.
Zaldivar threw for seven innings, gave up one earned run and struck out four batters.
His command of the ball was exceptional as no batter for the Vikings was rewarded a walk while Zaldivar was pitching.
“I thought he threw the ball really well today… I talked to him before the game, we went over the previous time we played them, we looked at what everybody did and we noticed they were really aggressive with fastballs so we wanted to attack them again with fastballs and we wanted to get the ball down in the zone and force them to put the ball in play and he really did that today,” the pitching coach of the Owls said.
Zaldivar started off the first six innings in the driver’s seat but he got into a jam in the seventh.
With runners on first and second, Zaldivar threw a fastball to Vikings designated hitter, Jack McLaughlin, that was drilled up the gap for the third consecutive single in the inning.
“When the two runners were on base, my mentality was just to keep pounding the strike zone, they weren’t really on top of any of the fastballs I was throwing, they were late and I just told myself to put the pressure on them, they are in the bind not me,” Zaldivar said. “All the pressure is on the batter to try and score those runs so if I just execute my pitch then it should work out.”
Despite being in the jam and giving up a run to the Vikings, Zaldivar invites the pressure that comes with pitching.
“I like pressure because it brings the competitive nature out of me,” Zaldivar said. “The pressures on them in a situation where they got runners in scoring position so if I can compartmentalize and make it easy for myself, I can execute where some guys let the pressure get to them. I just think the opposite — nice and easy and it comes to me a little easier.”
Head coach of the Owls Steve Gomez said that the game plan was to attack the batters with fastballs.
In fact, over the course of two full innings, Gomez said that Zaldivar only threw fastballs.
“We struggled a bit at times but he went to a higher percentage of fastballs in the third inning,” Gomez said.
Even with bases loaded at one point in the game, Zaldivar said he was able to relax and manage the game focusing on the batter he was facing. He credits the defense for his ability to focus on the task and hand — throwing strikes.
“They are making good plays so I know I can continue to attack. My defense will have my back so like if I make a mistake over the middle of the plate and the guy hits a solid ground ball I feel comfortable that my third baseman or shortstop can make a play to get me out of a jam,” Zaldivar said.
This was one of Zaldivar’s better performances of the season from a statistical perspective. He logged the second lowest earned runs of his season.
“I felt really good,” Zaldivar said. “I was really efficient, I had two innings where I was under ten pitches total, so being efficient like that helps me stay in the game longer and continue to put the pressure on them I mean a lot of zeros up there just the one run so I was really happy.”
The next batter, Vikings right fielder Kagen Kennedy, came up to the plate already struggling on the night.
Despite failing to record a hit all game long, Kennedy’s sacrifice fly to left field was deep enough to advance all the runners and bring home left fielder John Torrance from third base to close the gap to 3-1.
The sacrifice fly was the only exciting moment for the Vikings. They were held to six hits all game long and struggled to get any momentum going their way both offensively and defensively.
Following the top of the seventh, the Owls responded in the bottom half of the inning scoring two runs and extended their lead to 5-1.
The pitching staff was the reason for the win. On two separate occasions during the game, Zaldivar was able to record three outs in fewer than ten pitches in an inning — a rarity in baseball.
Gomez said his defense in addition to the pitching was also a factor in the Owls securing the win over the Vikings.
“Well defensively we made all the right plays,” Gomez said. “I don’t think they squared up on many balls at all.”
The relievers for the Owls came into the game and held their ground after Zaldivar set them up for success with a hefty lead.
Relief pitcher Sam Gomez came into the game in the eighth inning and gave up one hit and one walk and zero earned runs.
“Sam has been throwing the ball really well too, we made some slight adjustment to his mechanics… He’s taken it upon himself to put in that extra work and do it on his own when I’m not around but I credit Sam for doing that and just like Enrique, Sam is pitching with a lot of aggressiveness,” the pitching coach for the Owls said.
The Owls scored six runs in the eighth inning to extend the lead to 11-1 which wound up being the final score.
For the second game of the series at Barstow College, the Owls plan to send Mario Castro to the mound to start the game pitching against the Vikings.
“We’ve got some pitching issues we’ve got some guys who aren’t feeling healthy right now but tentatively right now it’s Castro,” coach Gomez said.
The Owls will play the second game of the series against the Vikings at 2:30 p.m. on April 4 at the Dale Fries Field in Barstow.
