It’s been crowded atop of the 4A NPSL baseball standings so far this season. But after a 4-2 win over Kennedy Catholic, the Kentridge Chargers feel some momentum building.
The Chargers took on Kennedy in game one of a two game series on April 8 at Hogan Park where some early offense and clutch pitching down the stretch sealed the third win out of four games for Kentridge.
“I told these guys right at the end that everybody in this dugout contributed to this win tonight, that was a big win,” said Manager Sheldon Stober.
Senior Riley Lambarena took the mound for Stober and did not disappoint. The righty kept the Lancers off balance all night not with velocity, but with accuracy and an aggressive mentality on the mound.
“We got a good team atmosphere here. We tell each other to fight for each other. We had Riley out there throwing strikes and competing for us and we got some runs across,” Stober said. “That was a fun game, it was an awesome game.”
Lambarena then handed the ball off to would-be game two starter Akoni Nazarino in the fifth and he would finish the game for Kentridge.
“Koni was supposed to start tomorrow, but we needed to get this win. We decided to go that route and he came in and shut the door,” Stober said.
The offense got started early for the Chargers, and that was all they needed.
Stober flipped Ethan Sugimoto to the top of the lineup and Owen Finlayson down to the number two spot. This is the second game that he has tried this out, and the Chargers are 2-0 after the change.
It’s been a process to find the right leadoff hitter as Stober has experimented with a couple of different options. But currently Sugimoto has the hot hand.
“We were floating around with a couple different guys leading off. They’d get hot and I move them to the leadoff spot and they kind of struggled a little bit. Ethan has never led off before but he felt comfortable… It was a real team move. Leading off is not easy,” Stober said.
In the bottom of the first, the Chargers took advantage of a wild Harvey Lieberman early. Lieberman walked Sugimoto and Finlayson before Manny Harris grounded out to second base, scoring Sugimoto. Lieberman threw 16 pitches in the first inning and just five were strikes.
The Chargers flipped the lineup over in the second and loaded the bases with two out in the inning. Finlayson swung at the first pitch and drove it down the third baseline, clearing the bases and giving Kentridge a 4-0 lead after just two innings.
Lambarena was able to minimize damage on the bump as not a single Kennedy batter tallied an extra base hit. The first run came on an error in the third and the second run scored on a single in the fourth. Outside of that, Lambarena scattered four hits across four innings while walking just one.
Nazarino on the other hand was punching tickets and handing out free ones occasionally. But when it came down to it in the sixth and seventh innings, he buckled down and sent the Lancers packing.
In the seventh inning, Nazarino gave up a leadoff single and a walk after recording a line out in between. A ground out advanced the runners to second and third, which forced Stober to intentionally walk Jesse LaBella and gave his defense the ability to get a force out at any base.
“I got an amazing defense behind me. I’m not going to strike everyone out. I just have to trust my defense and I do,” Nazarino said.
Nazarino trusted his defense and Seamus Dunn flew out to Brendyn Malapitan in center for the final out.
“This win means everything. Kennedy is a strong team. We believe if we play together, we can beat anyone,” Nazarino said.
Kentridge pitchers stranded nine Kennedy runners, six in scoring position in the win.
“We talk about having no fear. Those are tough situations, especially close games like that. You gotta have the mental capabilities of handling situations like that. I’m in the dugout freaking out and they are so poised on the mound,” Stober said.
Kentridge takes on Kennedy on April 9 on the road and then a two-game series against Stadium is next week’s matchup.
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Freshman Levi Baca scores a run in the second inning against Kennedy. Ben Ray / The Reporter
