The Culver City High School boys baseball team, off to a 6-3 start, will host 4-6 Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach at 3:35 on Friday to kick off the Anaheim Lions Tournament.
Last week the Centaurs swept a two-game series against Lawndale. They go into the tournament with momentum.
The Centaurs beat Lawndale 2-1 on Wednesday and 11-0 on Friday.
Coach Rick Prieto said that since the first game had been so close “we expected a hard game Friday.” Didn’t happen.
In the Wednesday game, Lawndale was leading 1-0 going into the seventh inning, and Culver rallied for two runs to pull it out.
On Friday, “we took advantage of walks and a couple of big hits to break the game open,” Prieto said.
Culver’s offensive production was a welcome sight. Their three losses have been by a combined four runs, 2-1, 1-0 and 8-6.
“We have been in every game ,” said Prieto. “Without question our pitching and defense form the strongest part of our team.”
Junior starter Jay Sterner is the No. 1 pitcher backed up by Eli Bowie, Louis Ortega, Jake Wells, Max Sterner and Michael Netzel.
On defense the Centaurs rely on a strong cast led by senior Darian Sylvester. “Darian is our best athlete and defensive player,” said Prieto. “He has been our shortstop for four years. He has experience. We also play some of our infielders in the outfield because we lost a lot of players to graduation.”
On offense the Centaurs are led by Sylvester, Jay Sterner, Daniel Hennessy and Jacob Weiner. If Culver City expects to win the Ocean League and go deep into the CIF playoffs they will need to get more offensive production from more players.
The Centaurs’ next games will be in the Lions Tournament against Golden Valley on Saturday, San Juan Hills on Monday, and Ramona of Riverside on Tuesday. They open Ocean League play at Beverly Hills on April 8 at 3:15.
Mr. Finley may be contacted at sfinley50@aol.com
