Lance Smith - Downey, Calif.

Opening day of the season for the Shepherds did not go as they had hoped, suffering a 11-4 defeat at the hands of the East Los Angeles Dodgers. The game began to unravel in the bottom of the 2nd inning when the Dodgers got a hold of a fastball from starting pitcher Max Montplaisir, delivering a grand slam. After a 5 spot in the second inning, the Dodgers would pour on 4 more runs in the following 2 innings and the Shepherds struggled to mount a comeback from there.

At the plate, the Sheps struggled to get anything going as the Dodgers starting pitcher, Manuel Garcia, had command of the game from the start giving up just one run and one hit during 4 innings of work. After that, the Sheps had a few baserunners here and there, but were unable to overcome the early deficit.

Shepherds starter Max Montplaisir picked up the loss (0-1), while the Dodgers Manuel Garcia earned the win (1-0).

Notes

Joey Scotvold pitched 2.0 perfect innings in relief.
Jake Lopez went 2 for 3 at the plate with a single and a double.
Nathan Weatherly went 1 for 2 in 3 plate appearances with a walk and a 2-run homerun.

Quote from Coach Creason

“I think defensively all around we did very well. I think this team has all the right pieces and does all the right things, but like I said the biggest thing is just knocking the rust off, getting the rhythm, and getting the nerves out of the way. I think we’ll compete more in the zone, we’ll get more on time at the plate, and we’ll start to do some great things.”

What’s next

The Shepherds have their opening home game at Whittier Christian versus the Arroyo Seco Sentinels tomorrow at 1 PM PST. The game will be live streamed on the Shepherds Facebook page which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/socalfcabaseball/. To stay up to date on all things Shepherds baseball follow us on Instagram (@shepherds_baseball), Twitter (@SoCalShpherds), and Facebook (Southern California FCA Baseball).

Final

Shepherds- 4

East Los Angeles -11