LA MIRADA, California- Lance Smith
The Shepherds had another game versus the Inland Valley Bucs on Sunday afternoon. The two teams played in a thrilling game just a few days ago when the Sheps pulled off an unlikely comeback, scoring seven unanswered to win 8-7 on Thursday night. The follow up to this game was much anticipated as tensions ran high on both sides in Thursdays game. Unfortunately for the Bucs, The Shepherds did not have any interest in keeping this game close. Andrew White started on the mound and threw 4.0 innings, giving up two runs on five hits, and striking out six. After White exited, the bullpen carried the Sheps to the victory.
The offense produced their highest scoring game of the season and the Shepherds put together a complete performance ending in a second straight win over the Bucs and the fourth win in a row at Whittier Christian High School. After tacking on a couple runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings, Simms Owens opened the game up by hitting a triple ball on a line to right center driving in two runs and then was brought in from third by a single from Jamie LaFramboise. The bullpen kept the Bucs bats at bay, but they were within striking distance for the majority of the game. That was until the 9th inning when the Shepherds decided enough was enough and threw up a five spot that all but ended any chance the Bucs had at a comeback. With the win, the Sheps are now in position to make the league playoffs if the season were to end today which didn’t look like it would be possible early in the season.
Andrew White (3-2) picked up the win and Connor McKinney (0-1) was tacked with the loss.
Notes
- Jamie Laframboise 1 SB, 1 RBI, 2 R
- Kaiden Zacharias went 2-3 with 1 double and 1 single
- Nathan Weatherly went 2-4 with a single, double, and an RBI
- Jackson LoBianco went 2-3 with 2 base hits, 2 walks, 2 stolen bases, and 1 RBI
- Andrew White picked up 6 K’s taking the team lead with 25 on the season
- Sam Murphy picked up 3 K’s in his 1.0 inning of relief
- Gabe Jackson threw 2.0 shutout innings of relief
- The team hit .325 on the game with 13 hits and drew 7 walks
Quote from Nathan “Moose” Weatherly
“Feels really good, the Bucs are a really good team so beating them like that is no joke. So it feels great to be on the other side of some of those games at this point in the season, I’m super happy for the boys and I couldn’t have done it without them. Even though I have been struggling at the plate it’s been good to produce behind the plate defensively for the boys and I’m super proud of the guys.”
What’s next
The Shepherds have a week off of games as they have their 3rd camp this summer at Whittier Christian High School. The team will return to action on Saturday July 17th at Whittier Christian High School. All games are 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).