In between morning practices and evening games in triple-digit temperatures, Hart High baseball’s Cole Roederer lays around his house, fans at full blast.
The cool-down paid off. Roederer played a major role in the Indians’ 7-2 win over Golden Valley at Golden Valley in a summer VIBL game on Wednesday.
“It’s tough,” Roederer said. “You’re going out there and you’re just deadbeat tired every time.”
But the UCLA commit wasted no time generating offense, banging out a home run early in the third inning.
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He followed that up in the fifth inning with an RBI double. Rocco Saldivar hit an RBI single after that to put the Indians up 3-0.
“I got a new stance going on and I feel really relaxed,” Roederer said. “It’s definitely paying off for me. Coming out for these games, you try to play a little harder and almost burn yourself out. After being here for four years, you’ve just got to relax and do it.”
Anthony Gomez hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to get the Grizzlies on the board.
Hart scored four more runs of their own in the seventh inning, then Golden Valley’s Chase Hwang got Golden Valley one last run with an RBI single.
Tripp Bowers was the starting pitcher for the Indians and put three consecutive zeros on the board for the first three innings.
“We usually have three starters, so we’re looking for people that can fit roles and right now he’s been pitching real well,” said Hart coach Jim Ozella. “Hopefully he’ll continue to keep taking the bull by the horns a little bit and keep making quality pitches. He’s got some talent.”
It was the fifth game in six days for the Indians, who practice from 9 a.m. to noon as part of summer baseball camp.
“It’s the idea of keep making strides from what you’re learning and take it out to games and show it off a little bit during the games, see if we’re learning,” Ozella said. “So kind of take the classwork from the morning to the classroom here at night.”
