Cougars throw in towel after five, hoping for better on Thursday.
By the time the first Campolindo batter stepped in the batter’s box on a warm afternoon Tuesday in Moraga, the Acalanes Dons JV stood firmly atop a 6-0 lead. The Dons kept pouring it on as the afternoon wore on, plating two in the second, five in the third, and 3 more in the fourth. After putting up a zero in the home half of the fifth, Campo did their best Roberto Duran impression and said, “No mas”.
Running out of pitching, down 16-6, with another game against their cross-town rivals on Thursday, it was nothing but fait accompli for the Cougar coaches and the fans in the stands. By that point the Dons had milked ten walks to go along with six well-timed hits, stolen ten bases, and capitalized on six Campo errors. Starting pitcher A.J. Hastings allowed a little traffic on the bases his first inning, but pitched a scoreless second and third innings, and helped his own cause with three RBIs and a double drilled deep into the left-center gap among his three hits. Catcher Jasper Stewart also drove in three and had an equally impressive double in the fourth. Tommy Terhar and Zach Birrell each swiped three bases and Birrell came into the game to relieve Hastings in the fourth and worked 1 2/3 innings. The centerfielder eventually found his groove before giving way to Dons’ one-pitch reliever, starting second baseman Kyle Woodson, who finished the game with one pitch, popping up the Cougars’ number three hitter to end the game. The Dons clearly played a defensive game that was much more polished than that of the Cougars to accompany their opportunistic offensive performance.
Game Notes: The Dons scored runs in seven different fashions on Tuesday…David Roux was not hit by a pitch, but getting excited for spring football practice, found a way to mow down third base coach Jim Burleigh while rounding third in the top of the third inning.
On deck: JV Baseball fans have waited most of the spring for these games – the ones that don’t require a down jacket in the stands – and will surely get one this Thursday as the Dons will put on the sunscreen and host their final home game of the season against the same rivals. First pitch 4pm. Bring your loud neighbor to cheer on the team.