Sporting their new Nike uniforms, the Kingsmen baseball team stepped onto their home field Saturday feeling refreshed and ready to bring home a win after losing to the Redlands Bulldogs on Friday.

In the midst of a rainstorm Friday afternoon, Cal Lutheran lost to Redlands with a season-low three runs. But that didn’t deter the Kingsmen heading into their double  header on Saturday.

The Bulldogs weren’t ready for a 10-run victory from Cal Lutheran.

“As a team, we performed great,” said junior third-basemen Nicho DellaValle, who continued his consistent offensive performance in games two and three of the series. “We bounced back after a tough loss and were able to protect our home field.

As a player, it feels awesome to be a part of the victories today and help support our outstanding pitching performances.”

A pitching performance that stood out among the rest belonged to sophomore Scott Peters, who pitched 7.0 innings in game three.

“I had command of my off speed, and got ahead early. It wasn’t hard with the run support our offense gave and I thrive off the support from my teammates and fans,” said Peters.

With strong pitching and offense, the boys were on a roll. Players like senior short stop Trevor Koons, junior pitcher Tyler Hebda, sophomore catcher Spencer Dubois, senior outfielder Nick DeLorenzo and junior outfielder Jake Petersen brought strong offensive production to the field, helping the Kingsmen advance their already leading score.

“With such a strong offense, it takes the pressure off the pitchers. It makes them not have to worry about throwing perfect pitches every time,” said Koons. “Our pitchers are able to perform stronger because they are not as concerned with perfection.

With a prolific offense, we aren’t worried if we fall behind and we feel like we can come back from any deficit.”

Kingsmen senior first baseman Nicholas Boggan continued to stand out during the games against Redlands. He was named Athlete of the Week for the second week in a row.

Boggan expressed his thoughts on the season so far and his excitement toward completing the season with such a close-knit team.

“This season I’ve worked really hard on consistency and the only thing I really need to concentrate on now is having a more patient approach,” said Boggan. “Other teams are attempting to get me off balance by throwing off speed pitches and I need to sit back and look for mistakes from their pitchers. It only gets harder from here.“

Moving forward, Boggan sees this team as one with great potential.

“The team that has formed this year is a special one. We have a team compiled of strong offense and a solid pitching staff. It is nice to see that everyone contributes and there is not just one guy who has to be pressured to get the job done,” said Boggan.

“Our pitching staff did a great job this weekend and if we continue to have performances like we did and continue to grow this season, the season will end how we want it to with a SCIAC championship in our pockets. I’m just lucky to be a part of it.”

Whether it’s luck or skill, the Kingsmen have started out their season 9-5-1 and 6-3 in SCIAC play. They will take on a non-conference opponent Thursday, March 14 against No. 23 Bridgewater College (Va.). The game is set to start at 2:30 p.m.

They will resume SCIAC play the following day at home when they take on Occidental at 3 p.m.

Abby Sturgeon
Staff Writer
Published March 13, 2013