To continue another long-standing winning streak that’s on the horizon, Ayala Baseball took on the clear underdogs, the Diamond Bar Brahmas, on Friday, April 24. With momentum now a necessity going into the end of the season and the postseason, the Bulldogs got just what they needed.
Ayala, with just two losses this season, signifies their utter dominance, already matching last season’s win total. Being able to obtain one of the best records in California baseball and a top-ranked spot wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Elijah Duarte (12), Easton Sarmiento (11), Jaden Valenzuela (12), and more essential players for the Bulldogs’ performance.
With just a few more games left in the remainder of the season, Ayala faces a game two series with Diamond Bar in a timely fashion. Firstly, dominating the Brahmas 13-3 on Wednesday, April 22, to earn them a 19-2 record. However, their scoring output was not as the next one as this one ended in a nail-biter, a surprising outcome due to the vast advantage for the Bulldogs this season.
The game started extremely quietly, with no team scoring a run until the very final inning. Ayala’s very own Right-Handed Pitcher (RHP) Caleb Trugman (12) was a vital element of the defense displayed throughout this ball game, shown through his striking out 11 batters during his Plate Appearance (PA) and only allowing three hits in the seven innings he pitched.
Diamond Bar’s own RHP Sebastian Roseli (10) also boosted an effective Earned Runs Average (ERA) of 1.06, adding on with his four strikeouts and allowing three bases on balls. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Roseli gave up the only run of the game later in the seventh inning, which cost Diamond Bar the match. Roseli gave up two hits to Elijah Duarte (12), also the only Runs Batted In (RBI), which allowed Eric Hernandez (12) to score. Hernandez also had two hits of his own, bringing the seven hits out of 26 Ayala’s PAs.
With Hernandez’s only run of the day coming in the final inning that won Ayala the game, killing the need for extra innings, this adds to Ayala’s now seven-game winning streak and their ever-growing momentum that will be desperately utilized in the postseason. Ayala now heads on to another series between the underdogs, Claremont’s baseball that hold a record of 16-7.
