It was a classic case of being beware of what you wish for. The hope for all concerned after an emotional, come-from-behind victory the evening before in the season opener against Fountain Valley was to ride the roller coaster of momentum and get the game in against Lakewood between the scattered showers.
But recent history perhaps should have sent the Matadores into a raindance instead since it was the sixth defeat in a row to the Lancers over the last three seasons and the eighth in nine attempts. The last time La Mirada defeated its nemesis was in the 2007 season but that was only after losing a doubleheader to Lakewood earlier in the season at Blair Field--the twinbill coming on the same day that the aforementioned freshmen team was handled, 10-0, back at the Lakewood campus.
Ah, but there's always tomorrow! Rather, there's always March 18 on the calendar. Circle it. Star it. Asterisk it. Highlight it. Cut it out and paste it in your wallet. Just do it.
That's the date that Lakewood will visit La Mirada to meet in a doubleheader for the fourth straight season.
Mark this down also: there will be a sweep for the fourth time in a row but this time La Mirada will come out on top.
Yes, a bold statement considering the poor results of the recent past. With 15 talented seniors, and returning starters at almost every position, however, this is not a team constructed for many blowouts but rather putting the hurt on most teams.
On Saturday, starting pitchers Shane Watson and La Mirada's senior Kyle Harper locked into a scoreless duel for three innings, both allowing zero hits the first time through the lineup. Harper, in fact, induced three double plays in his four innings-plus of work, including a nice first-inning backhand by junior thirdbaseman Nick Mata, who raced to the bag and threw across the diamond to complete the deuce.
Junior Andres Rodriguez drifted to his base and fired to first for a doubleplay in the second inning and Harper turned a 1-6-3 in the fourth to get out of the fourth with minimal two-run damage. It was that inning that the Lancers' senior firstbaseman Jeff Yamaguchi proved his Division I credentials (on both the high school and college level) by nearly hitting one over the very deep, very high leftfield fence.
Anyone who has been there would likely marvel at what Yamaguchi did, lining one to the very top of the Chainlink Monster for a run-scoring double and a 1-0 lead. Yamaguchi then came home on a bloop single to center.
Yamaguchi wasn't finished, though, banging a bases-loaded double deep down the leftfield line to all but put the game away in a seven-run fifth.
La Mirada never got anything going, managing just two hits in 22 at-bats to follow Friday's 7-for-33 performance in 10 innings against Fountain Valley. The Matadores' first safety was a sharp, opposite field double to left by senior rightfielder Karl Perez in the fourth inning and a soft liner by Rodriguez in the sixth.
Besides the hitting, one early concern is the team's penchant for poor Saturday performances. It was hoped that this experienced squad would improve on a 3-4 weekend mark from last year but right now that is a question mark.
