It took the game between the Hart Hawks and Camarillo Scorpions to be decided in extra innings for a winner after the teams were tied at one apiece after seven.
The Scorpions secured the win over the Hawks, 4-1, after Camarillo’s offense tagged three runs in the top of the ninth inning.
“Truthfully, we went against our approach, and our approach is to always hunt the fastball early and win the breaking ball, and I don’t think we did that very well today. Hats off to [Camarillo],” said Hart head coach Brad Meza. “Time’s closing in on league and so we got to clean some things up.”
Going into Wednesday’s game, Meza said that the plan on the mound was for it to be a bullpen day for the Hawks.
Senior right-hander Cayden Kollasch started the game for the Hawks and was relieved in the second after a 1-2-3 first inning.
Thomas Sweeney, who’s a junior right-hander, relieved Kollasch and threw for two innings and allowed the Scorpions a run in the top of the third.
In the fourth inning, Malachi Wobrock relieved Sweeney and provided some much-needed relief on the mound while the offense tried to find its footing against the Camarillo pitching staff.
Meza said he wanted to be cautious against Camarillo and added that with a bullpen game against the Scorpions, he’d have fresh arms for the upcoming competition.
“We had to piece some things together to keep our guys on par to be able to pitch this weekend,” he said. “Malachi Wobrock came in, down 1-0, he kept us close and that’s all we can ask from him.”
Meza added it’s unfortunate Wobrock didn’t receive any run support as he finished the day having thrown five innings, struck out five and didn’t allow any runs.
The Hawks scored their lone run in the bottom of the fifth inning when catcher Anthony Cavaretta hit a one-run single and brought in Devin Thompson.
After the game, Meza said he wants to see his team have more “team at-bats” moving forward, and added that there were missed opportunities to bring runners in.
“When we had a chance to get the guy over, we popped the bunt up. It’s just that it’s all about having a team at bats,” he said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t really put those together.”
The Hawks ended the day with five hits on offense and left six runners on base.
With the loss, the Hawks fell to 3-4 in the season, and although Meza doesn’t want to lose the early-season games, he added that the non-league schedule can help the Hawks be prepared to take on league competition.
“These are very important games,” he said. “This is why we schedule tough competition to begin our season, and that’s to get us ready and see who can contribute, and who can’tcontribute.”
The Hawks play again on Saturday in a double-header with the first game set to begin at 10:30 a.m. against the Rancho Bernado Broncos of San Diego.
