Fullerton enters conference play winning six of their last seven games. The Hornets’ offense set the tone, while their pitching kept the Pirates’ bats at bay. The Hornets defeated the Pirates 14-2 at Hornet Field on Wednesday. Fullerton’s Nate Pone and Diego Vasquez had subpar performances at the plate. The Hornets got a much-needed boost from their offense, in right fielder Jake Starr, who had one of his best offensive performances in a Hornet uniform.
In the second inning, with Fullerton leading 1-0, Starr came up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. -The Pirates’ defense was playing him straight up. After taking a pitch for a ball, Baum told Starr, “You got holes on the ground,” indicating to Starr to hit the ball in between the infielders into the outfield.
On the next pitch, he ripped the ball past Orange Coast starting pitcher Anthony Rasic, who almost got hit by the liner heading his direction. The ball went into center field for a 2-run RBI single, driving in Hunter Billingsley and Vinny Hudson. This gave Fullerton a 3-0 lead. The Hornets’ bench was fired up, as they high-fived Billingsley and Hudson heading into the dugout.
“[Baum] was telling me to stick to my approach. What we’ve been working on is the batting practice line drives to the middle, getting good swings off,” said Starr.
Later in the inning, with the bases loaded and two outs, Carlos Barrios came up to the plate and grounded into a fielder’s choice. Baum got off the bench after Orange Coast third baseman Kael Corridan tagged out Luke Viola heading to third. He went directly to the third base umpire to discuss the out call. Baum believed that Viola avoided the tag and should have been safe. The umpire saw it differently and said that Corridan tagged Viola.
In the third inning, Starr came up to the plate once again with runners on the corners and two outs. Starr got into a hitters count, and Pirates relief pitcher Ryan Mullen tried to sneak a fastball by him. Starr was not fooled by the pitch, as he smashed the ball over the right field wall for a 3-run homer to give Fullerton an 8-0 lead.
“I was just looking for a low fastball, sticking to my BP approach that Baum gave me. I got an elevated fastball, was able to hit it good and did a good swing off on it,” said Starr.
The crowd was jumping up and down, celebrating the home run with Starr. Fans started making some noise as the inning went on. His teammates, Nicholas Lopez and Hudson, were waiting for Starr as he touched home plate with a celebratory helmet tap.
During the entire game, Baum gave every batter a few tips on what they needed to do at the plate. In Starr’s first at-bat, Baum told Starr on a 3-1 count to “see the ball.” There were times that Starr did not see where the pitch was headed and would second-guess himself in past games on certain balls that he took for strikes. He would be late on swing after the ball went by him. During his at-bat, Starr was able to work a walk.
In the fifth inning, Starr got fooled on an offspeed pitch that he missed for a strike. Baum told him to adjust, and on the next pitch, he fouled off a breaking pitch. On a 1-2 count, Starr rifled a base-hit into right field for a single. That was his third hit of the game as he went 3 for 4, with a homer and 5 RBI’s.
“[Starr] keeps it really simple. He knows who he is, and his ability to hit has grown tremendously in 3 seasons now with us. He didn’t change because the moment was big. He kept the same approach and had a great day at the plate,” said Baum.
In the seventh inning, Starr drew a walk in his last at-bat of the game, before Baum emptied the bench.
During the inning, with Fullerton leading 13-2, Pone came up to the plate. Pone worked the count to 3-0, and on the next pitch was late on his swing. Baum told him to “get out in front and hit it.” Baum wanted Pone to load sooner and get his bat out to the ball more quickly. Pone was able to foul off the next pitch. On a 3-2 count, Pone fought off a pitch, and Baum was not happy.
Neither Niko Mendez nor Hudson got a good jump off the pitcher, as they waited for Pirates relief pitcher Nolan Hill to deliver the pitch. This was a teaching moment for his players, so when they get into close games, they can execute. Pone worked a walk during his at-bat to load the bases.
Fullerton added another run in the eighth inning, as Cannon Billingsley drove in Viola with an RBI single into left field, making it 14-2.
Hornets starting pitcher Will Valenzuela had a bounce-back performance after being unable to get through the second inning last week against Bakersfield. Valenzuela threw 5 ⅓ innings of two-run ball. Even though his command was off at times, he battled throughout and worked out of a few jams.
In the fourth inning, after walking Pirates center fielder Tyler Covington, Pone visited the mound. Pone noticed that Valenzuela was not attacking the hitters in the strike zone. Valenzuela threw one pitch to get Orange Coast shortstop Ryan Farias on a flyout in left field.
Pirates left fielder Gibson Rath grounded into a fielder’s choice off a change-up. After being behind in the count 2-1 to Pirates left fielder Andrew Chorbagian, Valenzuela threw two straight sliders on the outside corner to get him swinging for the third out.
In the fifth inning, Valenzuela gave up a leadoff single to Orange Coast catcher Jake Haruki. Valenzuela recorded the next two outs on grounders to Viola, both split-finger pitches. The Pirates came through with their first run of the game. Farias drove in Haruki with an RBI single to left. Valenzuela limited the damage, with an Alan Choo flyout to center field on an inside slider.
In the sixth inning, Orange Coast added another run. Covington got on base off an error, as Fullerton shortstop Vasquez tried to backhand the ball. Baum wanted to give Valenzuela a chance to get through six innings, and followed through, getting designated hitter Zach Boynton out on a hard-hit groundball at Hunter Billingsley.
Billingsley dove to his left and touched the bag with his glove. The runner advanced to second base on the play. After a wild pitch advanced the runner over to third, Valenzuela got another ground ball. Rath hit it over to Vasquez, who dove to his right, but had no play, as the run scored, making it 8-2 Fullerton. Baum decided to take Valenzuela out and bring in Landen Pulsifer.
“[Valenzuela] was good enough today. He didn’t have his normal stuff, but he made it work, and it attests to how hard he works and understands. He did a fabulous job. Really happy with his bounce back performance,” said Baum.
Pulsifer got out of the jam, with a line-out to the center fielder and a strikeout swinging.
Fullerton relief pitchers Nico Rodriguez and Brandon Garcia pitched the last two innings. Both relievers threw 1-2-3 innings for the win.
“You always want to start the league on the right foot, and being 1-0 is better than being 0-1. I just thought our guys are playing well and working really hard to play day by day and not get too ahead just because they’ve won some games lately,” said Baum.
Fullerton will travel to Orange Coast for game two of a three-game series on Thursday, March 5. Game time is at 1 p.m.
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