CROOKED NUMBERS

By Brandon Petersen

Westcliff Baseball continued its strong early-season play Tuesday afternoon at the OC Great Park, knocking off Bethesda 9–7 behind a relentless offensive performance and a shutdown effort out of the bullpen.

Despite being without Patrick Morgan and Nick Malvini, both sidelined with minor ailments, the Warriors piled up 17 hits and scored in five different innings to improve to 2–1 on the season.

Westcliff struck quickly in the first. Alex Chacon opened the scoring with an RBI single, and Ryan Duron followed two batters later with a two-run shot to left, giving the Warriors an early 3–0 lead.

Bethesda answered in the third, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs to briefly flip the game, but Westcliff never let the momentum linger.

"We played pretty good," head coach Dylan Hoffman said. "Seventeen hits is always a good day on the offensive side."

The Warriors responded immediately in the fourth. Carson Kawaguchi singled home a run before Landon Raskin tied the game at five with an RBI double to left-center.

Westcliff regained the lead for good in the sixth, capitalizing on pressure at the plate and aggressive baserunning. Raskin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run, and Amerson Dix followed with an RBI grounder to push the lead to 7–5.

Duron delivered the decisive blow in the eighth, ripping a two-run double to left to give the Warriors breathing room.

Duron finished the day 3-for-5 with four RBIs, continuing a strong start to the season.

"He's a man of few words," Hoffman said. "But there's a lot of words when it comes with his bat. He lets the bat do the talking. He's a big piece for our offense right away, and he's an impact every single time at the plate."

On the mound, freshman Riley Vogt made his first collegiate start, working into the third before running into trouble. Hoffman turned to Slater Theisen, who flipped the game on its head.

Theisen tossed 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit while striking out four to earn his first collegiate win.

"I knew what I was getting out of him when I saw him all summer," Hoffman said. "His slider is something else. The way he holds up on the mound really helps him, and even when he's out there, he makes a big impact in the dugout."

Andrew Wright and Brendon Demuth closed things out over the final two innings, with Demuth striking out the final batter to seal the win.

Raskin led the Warriors offensively, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Brendon Alvarez added three hits of his own.

Westcliff returns to action this weekend in Arizona with a three-game stop at Nelson University.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m., with a double-dip to ensue on Saturday.