Skyline Baseball got their fourteenth victory of the season, defeating West Valley College 7-2 on Saturday, March, 7. Sophomore catcher Matt Leong had a clutch doubles along with 3 RBIs and reversed the game for the win.

In the top of third, starting shortstop Jack Mettam made a ground ball error with two runners on base, plus, starting pitcher Cole Sowyrda threw a wild-pitch to give West Valley a two run lead, but fortunately, Sowyrdra didn’t allowed them to keep scoring and get further.

“Errors happen, nothing you can do about them after the fact except for keep pounding the strike zone and make another out.” Sowyrdra explained how he got the situation under control

In the top of the fifth, Trey Zanhursky, starting second baseman, hit a RBI double, helping the Trojans put a run on the scoreboard. Then, sophomore catcher Matt Leong has a bases clearing double with two outs giving Skyline a 4-2 lead defeating West Valley’s starting pitcher Mason Mooney, who went five innings and gave up four runs.

Regarding the clutch doubles, Leong explained how the situation went and his mentality during that moment.

“I was just looking for anything that I really could put a good swing on. And he (Mooney) came with me with a quick pitch fastball and I just drove it.”

However, in the top of sixth, West Valley had the bases loaded by middle order batters with two outs. Fortunately, facing West Valley second baseman Jacob Dressler, Sowydra did succeed and let him hit a ground ball and resolve the crisis without allowing a run.

“I was calm, no pressure on me. I was focused and confident enough to throw strikes and make my pitches by attacking the zone and pitching for soft contact,” said Sowyrda.

Overall in the game, Sowydra pitched six innings, giving up five hits and only two runs, he logged his second victory of this season. When asked about the situation on top of sixth, Dino Nomicos, head coach of Trojans Baseball gives a reason.

“Sometimes we try and go out and talk to him. It’s better not to talk to him in that situation because we don’t want him to think too much,” Nomicos said. “So he was okay. We let him go. He worked his way out of his problem and he did a good job.”

Meanwhile, the game came to a pivotal turn in the top of seventh where freshman setup man Gene Aberouette gave West Valley life with the bases loaded with nobody out. At the same time, Nomicos made a pitching change and substituted Aberouette for sophomore closer Michael Altman. Altman came in and dominated, he retired the next three batters with two strikeouts and one ground ball, helping the team to save the victory.

When asked about the situation facing base loaded, Altman explained his mindset during that moment.

“For that situation, I think of strikeouts, I can’t let them hit the ball, at least for the first two strikeouts. So I was looking more for strikeouts. the first two, I got those, and then I could kind of focus more on that last guy that was getting those two strikeouts. I was able to do that. And I’ve been able to locate everything, like all my pitches, being able to throw my off speed and breaking stuff for strikes. really helped me out in that situation. You got the strikeouts, and then from then on it was kind of cruising.”

Regarding Altman’s performance, Sowydra gives an affirmation to his teammates.

“Altman’s performance today is key to winning that game. He came in and did more than his job. He’s consistently been a guy out of the pen that I have faith in to do a job for us.” he said.