The overall backbone of fast pitching and coordinated defense brought home Los Medanos College to a 4–3 win over Chabot College on Wednesday afternoon in a tight game of baseball that came down to the final out.
The game opened as a pitchers’ match, with both teams struggling to make offensive breaks through the first two innings. LMC went down quietly in the first, striking out against Chabot’s starter, who locked the strike zone early and kept Mustang hitters uncomfortable with a mix of fast pitches.
LMC’s defense responded immediately, retiring Chabot in order in the bottom of the first. The second inning followed up very similarly, with not that many baserunners and little momentum for either side as both defenses stayed sharp and on top of things.
Chabot’s pitcher continued to apply pressure in the second inning, forcing weak contact on every play making it suffocating for LMC. While Chabot’s dugout remained energetic, LMC stayed very composed, being such a confident team knowing that their chance would come later in the game.
In the bottom of the second inning, LMC pitcher No. 31 Blaine Welte allowed a run but quickly brought things back together and closed out the play. With two outs, the Mustangs turned a clean double play from second base to first, ending the inning and stopping any chance for Chabot to build momentum.
From then on, LMC’s pitching started all coming together. By the fourth inning, Mustangs had completely shut out Chabot’s offense, not allowing a single runner to reach first base. The calm pace of the game didn’t last for long, the momentum was about to shift.
Late in the fourth inning, LMC finally broke through. With two outs, No. 35 Brendan Lister delivered a sharp hit that cut right through Chabot’s middle infield, tearing down the defense and starting the spark for the Mustangs offense. To follow that up, No. 7 Chris Olsen paired with another hit that set the pressure at the plate.
No. 5 Jerry Coakley then took the game away with one of the most important hits, splitting the defense up the middle to drive in another run and give LMC a 2–1 lead. With runners still on base, the vibe and overall feelings of the field changed as Chabot’s loud dugout was almost silent and momentum swung toward the Mustangs.
“That inning was huge,” LMC coach Bob Ralston said. “They have very good pitching, and their starter was commanding two pitches well. We were battling, and then we finally got to him. Those two runs really changed the game.”
LMC carried that momentum into the fifth inning, leaning on their strong defensive play from No. 24 Antonio Moreira. Early in the game, Moreira helped to get an out on a hard-hit ball across the midfield. After that with two outs, he made a key tag to catch a runner stealing, stopping another scoring opportunity in the same inning.
“Defense was very important today,” Moreira said. “If we didn’t make those plays, we might lose that game.”
Leading off the fifth inning, No. 5 launched a solo home run that energized the LMC dugout and extended the lead to 4–2. The team just absolutely erupted in support as the Mustangs completely controlled this game so far echoing their praise and excitement over the hit.
Right after that though Chabot had a response very quickly. They answered with a home run of their own and followed it with a walk, cutting the lead to 4–3 and shifting the pressure back onto LMC.
“Defense wins games,” Coach Bob said. “We turned three or four double plays, threw a guy out at third base from the outfield and made big plays when it mattered.”
The late innings tested the Mustangs composure under pressure. The eighth inning was incredibly intense as Chabot threatened to tie the game, but LMC managed to clean it up with timely outs and steady pitching.
The ninth inning brought the most pressure. With runners on first and second and two outs, LMC’s pitcher worked deep. On a two-ball, two-out pitch, he delivered a devastating strikeout to end the game.
Van Slyke Cruz said the win gives the team this very much needed momentum as conference play comes up soon.
“It’s huge for us,” he said. “We’re going into the league soon, so building momentum now helps us win games and push toward the playoffs.”
LMC will look to carry that momentum into its next matchup when the Mustangs return home March 3rd to face Napa Valley College.
