Fullerton was coming off a series loss to Irvine Valley College without Trevor Schmidt. All Schmidt could do was support his teammates in the dugout while he was recovering from a small bone fracture in his right foot. Schmidt returned to the lineup not being 100 percent healthy. He was able to make his presence felt at the plate in a 8-1 win over Golden West College on April 15.
In the bottom of the second inning, trailing 1-0, Schmidt blasted a home run to right center, on a 1-0 hanging slider out and over the plate. He did not show any lingering injuries that affected his swing. Luke Viola and Hunter Billingsley greeted Schmidt at home plate, as they took their helmets off and tapped each other.
“Schmidt had thirteen home runs last year and was voted co-MVP of the league. I expect Schmidt to be that,” said Head Coach Chad Baum. “Could have had three home runs today, he missed two. It was a good performance.”
The dugout came out and started high-fiving Schmidt. The fans got into it, as they were standing up and clapping when Schmidt rounded the bases.
“My first at-bat, we had an idea he was going fastball, slider. I took the fastball and I knew I was gonna get a slider, I was waiting for it and hit it out of the park,” said Schmidt.
In the third inning, leading 2-1 and a runner in scoring position, Schmidt came through again. The Golden West defense was playing a shift on Schmidt, expecting him to hit the ball on the right side. Instead, Schmidt went with an inside-out swing, as he got jammed on a high inside pitch and hit it to where the shortstop would have been playing into left field for an RBI single.
In the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Schmidt had another opportunity to drive in more runs. Before he was pitched to, Golden West pitcher Matt Futami tried to catch Fullerton’s Dillon Anderson off guard at first base by picking him off. Futami’s throw sailed over Jonny Rodriguez and out of play. Nate Pone scored from third base. Schmidt had two runners in scoring position and worked a walk to load the bases again.
Schmidt felt the team was more loose on the field. “It was something we discussed. We all think we’ve been pressing too hard and not playing as we love the game, because we’re playing baseball. Today we’re like let’s have fun, relax, and it paid off,” said Schmidt.
The Hornets dugout was woofing and barking as the rally continued. They started to intimidate Golden West pitcher Kameron Lee, who entered the game. The first base umpire had to warn the dugout about their attitude. Viola extended the lead, as the first pitch he saw from Lee was roped past the third baseman Cole Belfanti, into left field for a two-run RBI double, making it 7-1.
“New pitcher coming in. I was watching Lee warmup. He seemed a little wild at first. I told Baum if I like the first pitch, I’m gonna swing and come through for the team, and that’s what I did,” said Viola.
Schmidt was able to run the bases with minimal pain on Viola’s hit, as he made it from first to third easily standing up without sliding.
“It was pretty stiff running around the bases, but it felt really good at the plate today. Luckily, I didn’t have to run very far,” said Schmidt.
In the seventh inning, Fullerton added one more run on a Jake Larson RBI single to left field, bringing in Noah Rodriguez to make it 8-1.
“We just haven’t been playing well. They did a good job of being themselves. Getting off negative thoughts or feelings. They executed the way I think they can,” said Baum.
Fullerton will travel to Golden West on Thursday for game two of a three-game series.
Schmidt provided the offense for the Hornets, while starting pitcher Julian Castro and the bullpen kept the Golden West offense at bay.
After giving up a first-inning run, Castro settled in as he threw the last four innings of shutout baseball.
“The first inning, I was kind of going a little too fast. I was getting my shoulders kind of misplaced, I kind of made an adjustment in the second inning; getting a little taller, more lined up, and that got me downhill more, and got a lot more outs,” said Castro.
Castro ran into trouble in the fourth inning. With two outs and a runner on first, Castro walked Belfanti on four pitches. All four pitches were nowhere near the strike zone. The first pitch Castro threw to the Rustlers, Zack Burrow went into the dirt, and underneath the legs of Pone to the backstop, as the runners moved up to second and third.
After five straight balls, Pone went to the mound to visit Castro. On the next pitch, Castro got the inside part of the plate for a strike. That was followed by an outside pitch, in which Burrow flew out to Rodriguez in center field.
“Pone was telling me to trust my stuff. He said we’re gonna go fastball down and away. Don’t overthink it, do what you do, and let your defense behind you support you. That’s exactly what we did,” said Castro.
Castro was pumped up, as he brought his glove and throwing hand together while being high-fived by his teammates in the dugout.
The bullpen took over the last four innings as Manny Lopez went two innings before being pulled with two outs, getting out of trouble in the seventh inning. After Baum went out for a mound visit, Lopez made a crucial pitch to Golden West pinch-hitter Isaac Ocampo to get out of the jam.
The Rustlers had two runners on with one out, and Fullerton’s Lopez threw an inside pitch to Ocampo, who grounded to the shortstop Diego Vasquez. Vasquez quickly flipped to Larson at second, and Larson threw it over to Billingsley at first, for an inning-ending double play.
The Hornets Joel Sanchez threw to one batter in the eighth inning to record the last out. Then Christian Valent threw a one-two-three ninth inning with two strikeouts.
“Castro is an extremely hard worker, and buys into the things that pitching coach John Sothern does. He executed a good game plan and made quality pitches,” said Baum. “The bullpen did a fabulous job today. They didn’t try to overdo things… I think Castro did a great job setting the tone for the bullpen to come in and execute.”
