Castaic’s Orion Gonzalez is only a sophomore, but in Friday’s contest against Heritage Christian, Gonzalez pitched senior-like when the right-hander struck out 13 en route to the Coyotes’ 11-0 win over the Warriors.
“Not surprised,” said Castaic head coach Darrell Davis when asked about Gonzalez’s performance. “He’s a gamer. He loves having the ball, and he wants the ball. So, again, I’m not surprised by his performance. The kid can play.”
Gonzalez completed the day on the mound as the winning pitcher and finished having thrown seven innings, 13 strikeouts and only allowed two hits.
After the game, Davis said he was proud of his team’s offense for getting Gonzalez run support and added that everyone “played hard” and there was a level of intensity he liked to see.
“We knew we had to come out today with intensity and hit,” he said. “As long as we hit, we’ll be OK and we came with intensity. Our pitching was good, and our defense was good.”
In the win, the Coyotes (5-3) tallied 11 hits and as a team hit .367 across 38 plate appearances.
Matthew Gonzalez, who’s a junior, had the biggest day on the plate as he went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in.
The Coyotes saw most of their runs come across the plate in the bottom of the first inning with five runs across three hits.
Matthew Gonzalez hit a two-run single and later came across home plate to score when Castaic’s catcher, Bryson Nieuwkoop, hit a two-run single.
After the game, Davis said he’s glad to see his team’s offense picking up the pace with the Foothill league season coming up soon.
Davis said that, in the beginning of the season, the Coyotes’ offense was in a bit of a rut, but the energy has since then shifted.
“We went through a little lull there about a week ago, and our pitch selection wasn’t very good,” he said. “But now, we’re back into the groove again and no better time as we’re getting ready to go into league and swinging the bats pretty well right now.”
With the win, the Coyotes improved to 5-3 in the season so far and open the Foothill League season on Wednesday against the Saugus Centurions.
Davis is excited to finally open the league season and, with an opportunity to start the year against his alma mater, he’s excited to see what this year’s team can accomplish.
“We get to go play against my alumni at their house and [Saugus] is going to be good,” he said. “It’s always a battle between us and Saugus, and the following week we get to deal with West Ranch … it’s go time and we’re excited, so put your seatbelt on.”
Wednesday’s game between the Centurions and Coyotes is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. at Saugus High School.
