Thunderbird bats come alive in the home opener
The Mesa Community College men’s baseball team’s offense came alive Saturday afternoon as they took the win in seven innings against Paradise Valley Community College.
The Thunderbirds home opener put up 12 runs in the final three innings en route to a 15-5 victory. Mesa totaled 13 hits on the day with sophomore infielder Josh Leslie leading the way going 3-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
“I think everybody put together a good at-bats today,” said Leslie. “We had a bunch of two-strike hits, two-out hits, and altogether that’s what wins ball games for us.”
The Thunderbird pitching staff found themselves in early trouble, though, as Paradise Valley took a 2-0 lead going into the third inning, knocking starter Mitchell Torres out of the game in the third inning.
Mesa answered quickly as Josh Leslie, Connor Culp and Lucas Danielewicz pitched in with RBI singles in the third inning to give MCC a 3-2 lead.
Pressure continued as Mesa’s pitchers found themselves in bases-loaded jams in both the 5th and 6th inning, with Paradise Valley taking advantage of their opportunities both innings plating four runs.
But even as the Thunderbird pitching staff worked themselves out of the innings with limited damage, head coach Tony Cirelli said it’s something his young pitching staff has to continue to improve on this year.
“It’s a new staff, a lot of freshmen, and we’re forcing them to pitch. So if we get behind, they’re not used to doing that,” said Cirelli. “So, as we evolve throughout, this spring they’re going to get better, you know. Right now that the hitters are carrying the pitchers a little bit, but, the pitchers will get on track and get used to it.”
But the Thunderbird bats picked up their pitchers scoring in each of the last five innings of the game, which forced the 15-run rule to come into place at the end of the 7th inning.
“You know, we’re not a team that gets too worried when we’re down,” said Leslie. “We know that we have guys behind us that are going to pick us up, and we know if one guy doesn’t get a clean inning in, our hitters will pick them up. I know that once our pitchers get a little confidence, which I know they will, they’ll pick us up, too.”
Cirelli said he was also very impressed with their at-bats in two-strike counts, and that it comes down to timely hits and getting pressure on the bases in key situations.
“ You know, we did a really good job with two strikes. We had a lot of two strike hits and squirt a bunch of two out runs.” said Cirelli.” So they’ve been batting really well. Obviously, a lot of prep, a lot of pressure on the bases today, a lot of bases-loaded situations for your pitchers.”
With the victory, MCC finishes off their opening week with a 4-0 record after starting off their year with a double-header victory against Glendale Community College on Feb. 16, then went on to beat Phoenix College 11-6 on Friday afternoon.
“I’m really happy with the start. The kids have really bought in, and they’re doing a lot of new things that we just threw at them,” said Cirelli. “I’m impressed with the way they’ve picked up a lot of different things, our two-strike approach and our hitting philosophy. So I’m really happy with where we are now.”
The Thunderbirds began the following week with a doubleheader on Tuesday against Chandler-Gilbert Community College, ending by beating the team 2-1 in the first game and 6-5 in the second. They go head-to-head in another doubleheader on Saturday against Phoenix College.
