The Vikings win on a late inning rally, scoring three runs to take the lead from Mt. San Antonio, with the help of their ace pitcher Dylan Proost pitching a complete game on Thursday.
Proost got into some trouble in the top of the third and fourth inning, giving up two runs in each of those innings, giving Mt. San Antonio a four run lead, but would smoothly get past hitters for the remainder of the game.
Things started to look good for Mt. San Antonio’s starting pitcher Hudson Castillo, but the Vikings would score two runs off of Castillo in the bottom of 6th, getting closer to get the lead.
LBCC’s designated hitter and third basemen Aaron Mingo and second basemen Garret Rodriguez led their team to win, giving them the lead by batting in three runs off relief pitcher Juan Verduzco in the bottom of the 8th inning, giving Proost the chance to get the complete game and win the game 5-4 against Mt. San Antonio.
Coach Phillip Visico praised his ace pitcher Dylan Proost for completing the game, helping them overcome the four run deficit against Mt. San Antonio.
“He (Proost) filled up the strike zone with a lot of strikes and got a lot of weak contact, some punch outs, and that was definitely huge for us. They did go up on us four to nothing, but we definitely scratched the claw back, and it was very nice to see from this group,” said Visico.
The Vikings are looking to finish off the season strong with three games left in the regular season.
“Finish strong, that’s what I have been praising for this all week, just finish strong.” Visico said.
When asked about his bounce back and the complete game he pitched, Dylan Proost found a way to attack Mt. San Antonio in the strike zone after the 4th inning.
“My approach was basically just trying to attack either a fastball or curveball. I didn’t really have everything with my off speed today, so I went mostly with the fastball, but it seemed like it was surprising them a little bit and just wanted to attack the zone for sure,” said Proost
Aaron Mingo, who was 3 for 4 at the plate with 2 RBI’s, talked about his approach, which led his team to victory in the bottom of the 8th inning.
“I definitely wanted to hit something hard, just try to get on base and help my team win the ballgame,” said Mingo.
LBCC Vikings will play L.A. Harbor on Tuesday @ 2 P.M. at home. Their current record is 16-20 and they are 11-10 in their conference.
