Tehachapi News

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Leading up to their first South Sequoia League game of the season, the Warriors were reeling on an 0-5 record against some of the valley’s best teams.

After an opening league victory over Wasco last week by an 11-6 count, it is safe to say that high-octane competition has helped Tehachapi (1-5; 1-0 SSL) immensely.
“It feels good, the Wasco game was important both for league and just our confidence level,” said head coach Dennis Costa. “We had some great defense and we put the bat on the ball. When you turn three double plays you have a good chance at winning. There was good execution that was a carry over from practice and as a coaching staff you like to see that.”

The Warriors had been only able to muster nine total runs in five games leading up to the league opener, but exploded with 11 total runs on 11 hits against Wasco.
Performance at the plate, coupled with strong defense, proved to be the difference for Mountain Baseball.

“We have three sophomores starting for us in the infield (first, second, third) and this was great experience for them,” Costa said. “We want results ‘now’ but we have to be patient at the same time. We’ll continue to get better.”

Robert Berryman led off the first inning with a left field blast double. Next in the lineup was Sean Arbaut, who rifled a pitch skyward over the centerfield fence for a home run to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead after one inning of play.

“(The contact) felt really strong when the ball came and I was able to get a piece of it,” said Arbaut. “Robert (Berryman) was able to get a great hit right before I came to the plate and I just wanted to keep the momentum going.”

Tehachapi opened the game wide-open in the fourth inning, scoring six runs with Dominic Chavarria, Berryman, Arbaut, Johnny Holguin, Robert Siegmond and Trevor Burtz all crossing the plate.

Ryan Rush pitched a complete game for Tehachapi with four strikeouts, while also registering a triple in the sixth inning.

“We’re going to have some tough games coming up (this week), and to lose the league opener leading up to that Division 1 competition would not have been good for us,” added Costa. “We have a taste of victory and we can build off that from here on out.”

Tehachapi will play against Stockdale (10 a.m.) and East (1 p.m.) this Monday, and against Bakersfield (10 a.m.) and Ridgeview (1 p.m.) this Tuesday, with all games are Stockdale High School. The next league game will be at Taft (Tuesday 4 p.m.) next Tuesday, March 25.

“It was depressing a little bit with the start that we have had, but winning feels good.” said Arbaut. “But we believe in each other and what we can do, we stick together on the field and pick each other up.”