Saturday was an eventful day that began when a number of Mt. Tamalpais families drove to Acalanes thinking they were playing a game on the road, only to learn they were playing at home. The Dons would have preferred that the Mt. Tamalpais pitcher not return, as he celebrated his birthday by tossing a complete game gem giving up only 2 hits and 1 walk in Game 1.
Cruz Lopez began the game on the mound for the Dons, pitching 4 1/3 solid innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. He was followed by Hank Bauer, who pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks. Brady Wall provided the offensive highlight of the game, hitting a shot into left field that he stretched into a double. The defense played well despite having to dodge geese in centerfield and recover from a line drive that broke third baseman Brendan Miles’ glove.
You might think that Mt. Tamalpais pitcher would be the game MVP, but the real MVP was the student DJ, who played an impressive array of songs including Jimi Hendrix, AC DC, Rolling Stones, and TV theme songs from classics such as Three’s Company and Sanford and Son (DJ Kevin has competition).
In Game 2, the Dons turned the Tamalpais mountain into a molehill. Even MLB umpire Angel Hernandez’s notoriously generous strike zone couldn’t have helped in this game, as there were 2 hit batters and 22 walks issued, including 15 walks by the Mt. Tamalpais pitching staff who threw a whopping 86 balls versus 68 strikes (44% strike rate for those of you counting at home).
The Dons sent 5 different pitchers to the mound. David Gonzales got the start, giving up 1 run on 2 hits in 2 innings. He was followed by Cole Gwaltney who gave up no runs on 1 hit in 2 innings, David Roux who gave up one run on 1 hit in one inning in his first pitching action of the season, Sam Bishop who gave up no runs or hits in one inning, and Brendan Miles who also gave up no runs or hits in one inning.
In addition to the numerous baserunners from free passes, the Dons bats also showed signs of life as the team registered 8 hits in Game 2, 3 of which came off the bat of David Gonzales. David Gonzales and Jake Colaco tied for the team lead with 3 RBIs each. The most memorable moments of the game came from David Roux, who struck fear in the opposition as he channeled his middle linebacker self in collisions at the plate on offense, and at first base on defense while he was pitching where he opted to make an unassisted putout.
Get to know Coach: JJ’s favorite movies are Toy Story, Cars, and Moneyball. To summarize, from now to “Infinity and Beyond”, he wants the boys to “Git-R-Done” because “he hates losing more than he even wants to win”.
I thought it would be good to report out some dugout chatter from today’s games. While I wasn’t surprised to hear the boys make comments such as the freshman baseball team articles are amazing, I was surprised to hear comments such as that called third strike against us was the right call by the umpire, I love school, my little brother/sister is awesome, and let’s meet at Tiffany’s after practice on Monday so we can pick out jewelry to give to our moms for Mother’s Day.
Lastly, I heard from a reputable source that the freshman baseball team article last week had the most clicks of any Acalanes Booster article. Thank you for your support! Sadly, the support didn’t come from the writers for the other teams, who called the results fake news and the outcome rigged. Apparently stop the steal doesn’t just apply to baserunning.
The team next plays against the very tough 14-5-1 San Ramon Valley Freshman Wolves on the road on Wednesday, May 4th.