The Los Medanos College Mustangs faced off against Marin College on Friday, April 1 at home in a series-deciding game. The Mariners won the first game 9-2 then LMC bounced back, taking the second 16-3. The Mustangs came out on top 8-5 in a thrilling back-and-forth contest to win the three-game series.

LMC went into the game with a record of 16-11— good enough to hold the No.1 spot in the Bay Valley Conference. Opponent Marin held the No.2 spot in the standings with a 14-13 record.

Mustangs Head Coach Anthony D’Albora explained the team’s approach to success: taking the season a week at a time and winning what they can control— pre-game, practice, the next pitch, the next inning and as many games as possible.

“This series is about finding a way to win the week. Next week’s goal will be the same,” D’Albora said. “So hopefully our intent can be locked into that task.”

LMC started the game hot, putting up three runs in the first inning. Andrew Neil took the mound for the Mustangs, pitching five strong innings, allowing three earned runs and putting up seven strikeouts. 

Neil’s quality pitching was backed up by relief pitcher Xavier Nelson, who finished off the last four innings with one earned run and six strikeouts. These productive pitching outings were coupled with some solid defensive plays, including a diving foul catch from outfielder Parker Judy.

“I got a good jump on the ball and I had made a mistake earlier in the game so I was pretty determined to get to this one,” Judy said. “As I got closer, I knew I was going to have to lay out to get it, so I did.”

The game really came down to the eighth inning. In a tied 5-5 game Ryan Pierce came up to bat at the two-spot with two runners on base. He delivered with a two-RBI double to right field and soon scored on his own after Casey Vogan hit an RBI single, bringing the game to its final score: Mustangs 8, Marin 5.

Judy reflected on the importance of the series to the team’s mindset.

“They are a really good team so it was crucial for us to bounce back after losing game one to take the series,” he said, adding that it, “definitely will provide some momentum for us going forward.”

LMC remained on top of the Bay Valley Conference at the end of the series with a strong 17-11 record. Moving on, the Mustangs were to match up against their cross-town rivals in the next series against Contra Costa.

 D’Albora said the Mustangs are looking to close out the last month of the season strong by continuing to find ways to win as a group and “sharpen in all of the areas we can control to help everyone else around us get better.”

“Definitely a ton of guys are working hard to do that,” he said. “We are excited about the opportunity to keep chipping away at that more and more moving forward.”