By Corey Kwok
(Brookside Park – Pasadena, CA) – Walter Harris pitched into the seventh inning and Jeffery Oki came on to record the save as Maranatha shut out Village Christian 2-0 Thursday in Olympic League action.
Helio Higley came through with a big run saving relay in the seventh on a two-out Ryan Whisenant single that loaded the bases with two outs before Oki replaced Harris and dealt a strikeout for his first save and Harris’ first win.
Village Christian countered with ace Chris Davidson, who took his first loss of the season but remains at zero ERA over four starts, seven total appearances, and 30 innings. The Minutemen took advantage of two infield miscues by the Crusaders that led to both of its runs in the third. Trevor Marrs reached by error before scoring off another on a groundball from Higley, who cashed in five pitches later when Alec Ainger belted an RBI double to right. That double, and Oki’s two-out bloop single in the first, were the only hits by the Minutemen this game.
Village Christian finished with five hits and threatened in all innings except the third with runners in scoring position, but came up empty each time, stranding a total of eight runners (seven in scoring position).
Josh Argarin went two for three, while both Davidson and Fernando Pizano were one of three with a stolen base, for the Crusaders, who were held in check by a sharp Minutemen infield led by shortstop Zach Schradermeier, starting third baseman Oki, second baseman Ainger, and first baseman Kosmo Brown.
Both teams will meet Heritage Christian in their next Olympic League matchup. Maranatha hits the road on Tuesday April 1st (game at Mission Hills Senior League complex), while VCS returns to its home field at the Tujunga Little League complex on Thursday April 3rd. Both are set at 3:30 PM.
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