Jack Painter hit his first Collegiate Home Run at the right time (top of 5th) to tie the game at 5-5 Saturday vs. Skyline JC.
Things on Saturday got off on right foot for the young Hawks on the road in game 2 of the series vs. Skyline JC.
Bryson McArn (Pleasant Grove HS) drew a 1 out walk and advanced to second on a
Jack Painter ground ball. With two outs the clean-up hitter
Henry Degnan (El Cerrito HS) roped a hot line drive to the left centerfield gap to put the Hawks on the board in the top of inning 1. Unfortunatley for the Hawks the lead was short lived. Sophmore
Ethan Torres (Liberty Ranch HS) got the nod as the starter and struggled thru two innings of work, allowing 3 runs on just 2 hits. But costly errors on two pick off attemptems saw the Hawks go down quickly 5 to 1. The offense got back on track when Freshman
Gabriel Ramirez (Capital Christian HS) hit his first collegiate Home run, a 2 run blast to left-field, giving the Hawks a big jolt in the right way and boost of momentum the team desperately needed.
Freshman Troy Rice (Capital Christian HS) held Skyline in check when he entered the game in the 3rd inning. Rice held the Trojans to just 2 runs in 3 innings of relief of Torres. The Hawks then headed into the top of 5th inning after two shut down innings of blanking the high octane Trojans offense. Then when Jack Painter (Davis HS) hit his first collegiate Home run, another 2 run blast that went directly over the left-field wall giving the Hawks a big boost of confidence in a very intense and hostile environment at Skyline Saturday afternoon. The team managed to hold the Trojans in check until the bottom of the 7th inning when a lead off single from the 9 hitter and a catchers interference call put two runners on for the Trojans. The three hitter for the Trojans then came up and lined a 2 RBI single to leftfield and the Trojans never looked back. The Hawks rallied to score one run in the top of the 9th but it was not enough and Skyline took game 2 of the series 8 to 6.
The Hawks are now (3-2, 0-0 Big 8) and have a few days to rest, reset and get ready for another test vs. Lassen JC on Thursday, then the team heads on the road for a two game series vs. Mercerd JC (Friday/Saturday).
"We just have to a better job of making the routine, routine. A key phrase we use every single day is being able to FUNCTION. We did not do a very good job of functioning against a sophomore heavy group at Skyline. We are young but need these early season tests to prepare us for BIG 8 play. My staff and I are ready to get back to work on Monday to prepare our young men for another week of the grind." - Head Coach Donnie Mico
