CALPAC

[Baseball] Sea Beggars Make History with Epic Sweep

Pasadena, CA – The Sea Beggars had an uphill climb to make it into the 2021 Cal Pac playoffs with a record of 1-11. But there was still a chance, a sweep of the Golden Eagles of La Sierra would give PCC 4 wins and tie La Sierra and ultimately the #5 seed in the conference tournament. With an opportunity to make history as the first Sea Beggars baseball team to make the post season, team seven left it all on the diamond as head coach Cody Walter told them before this series "the most dangerous team is a team that isn't afraid to lose" and they played like it.  To start the series it was Nicholas Ojinaga on the mound for the Sea Beggars as they started the game off with 3 scoreless innings. With the defense holding strong early, it gave the offense time to find a grove. In the top of the 2nd, Nicholas Zielomski led off reaching 2nd on a wild throw and advancing on a fly out before Carl Bunday would bring him in to give PCC the early 1-0 lead. After a scoreless 3rd from each side, PCC added to their lead with Zielomski scoring on a Bunday hit. But the Golden Eagles came back with a pair of runs themselves to tie the game and followed it with another 2 runs in the 5th to give them a 4-2 lead. The bats came alive though for the Sea Beggars in the 6th as Matthew Simpson, Walter Roberts, Zielomski, Trenton Friesen, and Connor Lane would score to take back the lead 7-4.The game calmed down for the next inning and a half before a wild finish. Holding onto the 7-4 lead the Sea Beggars got back to work in the 8th as a Tucker Panarisi fielder's choice turned into a run off of an Antonio Gonzalez single. LSU responded right away with 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game at 8-8 going into the 9th. After Lane and Bunday reached base to start the inning, 2 quick outs would keep the Sea Beggars on their heels before an Andrew Brown single scored Lane and due to an error, Bunday would steal home and give the Sea Beggars a 10-8 lead before the final out. With so much at stake, LSU was not going away as they put up 2 runs themselves to send the game into extra innings. PCC was up again and looked to put the game away. With Matthew Simpson scoring twice, along with Roberts, Lane, Bunday, Revin Diego, Andrew Brown, and Panarisi scoring as the offense exploded to put 8 runs on the board and put all the pressure on LSU going into the bottom of the inning. With Anthony Reynoso on the mound and the defense behind him, PCC went 1, 2, 3 to take home the win and keep their playoff hopes alive.Gonzalez, Bunday, and Brown would lead the team with 4 hits, and Gonzalez and Bunday each contributed 4 RBI's. On the defensive end, Brown stayed busy as well with 7 putouts leading the team as Reynoso earned his 2nd win of the season.Score by Innings  1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9  10 –  R H EProvidence Christian (Cal0101050128-18200La Sierra (Calif.)0002200420-10192                 The Sea Beggars and Golden Eagles returned to action today as they got ready for another wild day as well as a chance to make the Cal Pac Playoffs. Providence started the game off cold with only two hits in their first 4 innings and nothing on the board. It would be the Golden Eagles striking first in the 2nd with a 2 run inning to take the early lead. As the Sea Beggars looked to get things rolling, Nico Portillo and the defense dug their heels in and kept this game within striking distance. It was not until the 5th inning when Providence finally was able to break through. After a Carl Bunday single and Aaron Gooch double, Andrew Brown took advantage of the runners in scoring position and doubled to right-center to tie the game. A double play ended the inning but not before the Sea Beggars took back the momentum.It became a defensive battle for the rest of the game as both team's defenses buckled down. As the 6th, 7th, and 8th inning came and went, it came down to the 9th. After PCC went 1, 2, 3, it was the defense to send this game to extra innings. With 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd, Portillo would get a fly out that advanced the runners and then a 2nd one to get the final out under pressure, sending this game to extra innings again. Just like yesterday, the Sea Beggars had their chance in extra innings and they took full advantage. Tucker Panarisi and Matthew Simpson led off with a walk and single to put runners on 1st and 2nd before Anthony Gonzalez doubled to left field scoring 1 and putting runners in scoring position. A single form Nicholas Zielomski and walk for Gooch put 2 more runs on the board and Trenton Friesen capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to bring Zielomski home to give PCC a 6-2 lead. Again, with the pressure on LSU, Portillo and the defense went 1, 2, 3 to end the game and go for back-to-back wins for the first time this season.Gonzalez and Zielomski led the team with three hits each and brown lead with two runners batted in. The complete game for Portillo gave him the win and kept the Sea Beggars in the hunt, with it all coming down to game three of the series. After the game, we asked Portillo about the game and what it meant to be put his team in this position. "It felt nice for all of the hard work to finally pay off. The grind can be overwhelming and discouraging at times, but games like these make it all worth it" said Portillo. " But wow, I owe so much to Cody and Will for believing in me to finish that game, as well as my catcher Zo for being there. The defense was outstanding; I could not have had the success I did without them making the plays they did. It just feels amazing to sell out for the people I love and get the reward we deserve."Score by Innings  1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9  10 –  R H EProvidence Christian (Cal0000200004-6120La Sierra (Calif.)0200000000-2102 It all came down to this for both Providence Christian and La Sierra. One game to earn the right to play in the conference tournament. This is what players love and all momentum was wearing orange and blue as they looked for their 1st series sweep of the season. Before the Golden Eagles knew it, the Sea Beggars were back with the hot bats as Tucker Panarisi, Matthew Simpson, and Nicholas Zielomski loaded the bases. Connor Lane doubled to left-center to bring home 2 before Carl Bunday and Evan Friesen brought in 2 more runs to give Providence a quick 4-0 lead. Trenton Friesen started on the mound for the Beggars and he started hot with a quick 0 on the board. Providence kept things alive as Panarisi doubled before being brought home on an Antonio Gonzalez ground out to add to the lead. LSU was able to get on the board in the 2nd to cut the lead to 5-1. In the 3rd it wasn't necessarily the bats that were working but the base running for the Sea Beggars. Evan Friesen was hit by a pitch with 2 outs and with a Walter Roberts single, 2 runners were on for PCC and both stole each base to work their way home to extend the lead to 7-1.This was playoff baseball with the season on the line for both teams and the Golden Eagles stormed back with 4 runs in the 4th. After a shutout inning for LSU they came back on offense to put up another 4 runs to take a 9-7 lead over Providence. However, the tide changed in the 6th as the Sea Beggars hit train rolled back into town. Simpson, Anthony Gonzalez, and Zielomski started off on base to load them for Lane who delivered with an RBI single. Bunday and Evan Friesen would both reach 1st bringing in 2 more runs and a sacrifice fly from Walter Roberts added another one. A fielder's choice from Panarisi and an error would score 2 more runs and cap the inning with 6 runs scored to give the lead back to Providence.La Sierra returned with a run of their own but the Sea Beggars led 13-10 going into the 7th. Zielmoski earned a walk and Lane cleared the bases for a 2 run home run to stretch the lead to 15-10. Lane's home run tied the single season record for as he tied it with himself and Aaron Gooch at 6, a mark set by both in 2019. Not to be put away easily, the Golden Eagles chipped away by adding a run, but it was in the 8th that the Sea Beggars looked to truly put the final nail in the coffin. After a series of bunts, stolen bases and errors, Roberts would score and put runners on every base for an Antonio Gonzalez double to bring them all home. Later in the inning, Andrew Brown would triple with the bases loaded to score Bunday, Friesen, and Roberts followed by a Panarisi double to cap the inning at 9 runs to give the sea Beggars a 24-11 lead.Aidan Delgado finished the last 3 innings for PCC, even while battling through injury but capped the night in the 8th. Delgado would strike out the 1st batter before his defense assisted on the next 2 outs to complete the sweep and take home the victory. This historic weekend for PCC finished with an 8 inning 24-11 win to punch the Sea Beggars ticket to the conference tournament.Senior Connor Lane lead the Sea Beggars in hits (4) and runs batted in (6) but it was an all-around offensive effort with every starter getting a hit. The defense did an incredible job and with Trenton Friesen, Brennan Morales, and Delgado all on the mound, Providence took home their first sweep of the season.Score by Innings  1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 –  R H EProvidence Christian (Cal41200629-24170La Sierra (Calif.)01440110-11115 After the game, we were able to catch up with Lane after he helped lead the Sea Beggars all season. "First of all, I thank God for the opportunity to be in the situation. We've had to overcome a lot this year, and to say that the Sea Beggars will be in the playoffs for the first time ever, I am at a loss for words, we love Coach Walter and he has believed in us all year." Said Lane. " I am just trying to do my part in something greater than myself, as well as pave the way for the guys that follow and lead them in faith."This was an incredible run for head coach, Cody Walter, who was the first student-athlete to sign with Providence Christian as they started a baseball program. After being a student-athlete, Walter took over as the head coach 2 years ago and the team has just made history. "The team checked their ego at the door and did everything they could to pull out this win," said coach Walter. The Sea Beggars are riding this momentum into their first Cal Pac Tournament in program history as they look to take on the other team they beat this season in the first round, the Simpson Red Hawks on May 10th in Lancaster, CA.Details for the Cal Pac Championship can be found here:  http://www.calpacathletics.com/Championship_Information