Strong offense propels LMC to the second round
Stangs are moving on
Los Medanos baseball player Rocco Borelli smashes the ball past the outfield fence for a 2-run home run.
May 8, 2023
The Los Medanos Mustangs baseball team completed the series comeback and is moving on to the second round of the NorCal Regionals after a 20-7 dominating victory over the Ohlone Renegades.
The decisive win-or-go-home game ended in a blowout for the Mustangs and they look to keep the momentum going for the second round.
The Mustangs grabbed an early lead and never looked back, as they continued to pour on the runs throughout the game. The starting pitchers for each team were Rocco Borelli for the Mustangs and Luke Giotta for the Renegades.
The first three innings seemingly ended the game with the score of 12-2, in favor of LMC.
The Mustangs opened on fire as they scored three runs without getting out with a bases-loaded walk from Michael Weber and a single from Borelli. After the single from Borelli, Giotta was immediately taken out of the game to get out of the inning.
The inning didn’t end there; however, one more run managed to score after another bases-loaded walk, this time from Darrell Mays.
The bottom of the second inning started off with a double by Ryan Pierce. The next batter was Bubba Rocha, and he smacked the ball into the outfield easily allowing Pierce to score. Borelli came up to the plate and sent the ball deep over the outfield fence for a two-run home run extending their lead.
The third inning had a combined seven runs from both teams as Will Linberg put the Renegades on the board with a two-run home run attempting to hype up his team for a comeback. Instead, the top inning ended, and the Mustangs extended their lead even more after Pierce hit a double, and scored himself from a single from Weber. Two more runs managed to score from a wild pitch and a single, ending the first three innings on a high note for LMC.
As Borelli scored the last run in the third inning, he slid onto the plate for the run but got ejected due to an extended forearm into the Ohlone catcher. Kenny Esposito would take over on the mound to replace Borelli due to this incident.
The rest of the game didn’t look close as LMC extended their lead even more, scoring eight runs while the Renegades only managed to score five more runs. It was a dominant offensive showing from the Mustangs, and Ohlone didn’t have an answer in rebuttal.
The game ended after Josh Algarin popped out to second baseman Darrell Mays, allowing LMC the victory. More importantly, advanced the Mustangs to the second round, which is a double elimination against Folsom Lake Falcons and Fresno City Rams. They are scheduled to take on the Fresno City Rams on May 11 at 12 p.m. at Folsom Lake College.
