Bainton’s Outing and Forshey’s Blast Carry Warriors Past Pirates
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Orange Coast | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
|
El Camino | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 4 | 11 | 0 |
TORRANCE, Calif. --- For the first time since March 11, 2020, the El Camino College baseball program was back in action Thursday as the Warriors opened the 2022 season with a 4-1 victory over Orange Coast College at Warrior Field.
It was game one of the Inaugural Memorial Cup Series, which honors the late OCC head coach John Altobelli and Warriors catcher Sladen Mohl.
Thomas Bainton made his Warriors debut on Thursday and pitched well, tossing six and 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. He walked one, struck out six and scattered five hits.
Sophomore Julian Diaz pitched the rest of the way, picking up the save after surrendering just one run on two hits with two strikeouts.
Brett Soulages took the loss for the Pirates after allowing two runs on six hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out five.
The Warriors struck first and early as Ben Griffin hammered a one-out double to left-center. Theo Forshey then stepped in and blasted a two-run homer well past the right field fence to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
In the second inning, the Pirates got two hits off Bainton but Will Ireland was erased at home after he tried to score from first on a two-out double by Jake Taylor, keeping the Warriors ahead by two.
Bainton would settle in after that, retiring 12 of the next 13 hitters including nine in a row before bowing out in the seventh inning with two on and two out.
Diaz came on in relief in the seventh and promptly hit Taylor to load the bases for the Pirates, their best scoring opportunity since the second inning.
But Diaz got Ricky Teel to ground out to Neil Feist at first base to end the threat and keep the Pirates off the scoreboard.
Prior to the seventh, the Warriors tacked on a run an inning prior as Feist doubled to right center to score pinch-runner Dylan Knowles from second base to make it 3-0 ECC.
The Warriors would add another run in the seventh and then Diaz, despite surrendering a run in the ninth, locked down the victory.
The teams will play game two of this three-game series on Friday afternoon at Warrior Field with first pitch set for 1 p.m. The third and final game of the series will take place Saturday at noon at the newly renamed John Altobelli Field at OCC.
