JUST SHY

By Brandon Petersen

The Warriors had the tying run 90-feet away Friday, but it wasn't to be.

A missed opportunity, but one quickly erased by a Saturday turnaround with OUAZ for Games 2 and 3 of an early-season showdown with another great Arizona opponent.

Friday night, it went the way of the visitors at Great Park Stadium, 8-7, behind a solid start from Micah Del Rio, who scattered nine, allowing two earned over seven.

Westcliff found itself playing from behind early after OUAZ struck for three runs in the second inning and added two more in the third to build a 5-0 advantage. Despite the early deficit, the Warriors steadily chipped away, refusing to let the game slip out of reach.

Ryan Duron delivered the first big swing for Westcliff in the third inning, driving a two-run double to center field that brought home Landon Raskin and Ben Carter to cut the deficit to 5-2.

The Warriors added another run in the fourth when Nick Malvini came around to score following a defensive miscue, narrowing the gap to two.

OUAZ extended its lead to 6-3 in the seventh, but Westcliff responded with its biggest rally of the night in the eighth inning.

Malvini started the surge with an RBI single before Raskin followed with a run-scoring hit of his own. Amerson Dix then delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 6-6, completing the comeback and shifting momentum toward the home dugout.

The back-and-forth contest continued into the ninth, where OUAZ regained the lead on a two-run double from Evan Mendoza, who finished with three RBIs on the night.

Westcliff answered once more in the bottom half, as Brendon Alvarez doubled home a run to pull the Warriors within one and bring the tying run to third base, but the rally ultimately fell short.

Despite the loss, Westcliff out-hit OUAZ 13-10, led by a three-hit performance from Malvini, while Duron and Alvarez each collected two hits.

"We came out pretty flat early," said head coach Dylan Hoffman. "There's no discredit to Ottowa — they're a very well-coached, talented team — but we started slow and had to compete from behind. The 8-7 score doesn't fully reflect how well we played on the back end."

Defensively, the Warriors showed improvement against OUAZ's aggressive baserunning approach, highlighted by strong work behind the plate from Martin Sanchez.

"With us being limited in the cages due to the rain and knowing they're a run-heavy team, that was a big focus for us this week," Hoffman said. "Sanchez did a great job. It was pretty electric to see."

Hoffman emphasized the team's resilience and believes the late comeback showed the potential within the roster as the series continues.

"It was a learning lesson tonight in how we prepare and how we come ready," Hoffman said. "I think it's going to be an eye-opener for us. We showed we can compete against some of the top teams in California.

"Our limit is really ourselves."

Westcliff and OUAZ will meet Saturday at Long Beach City College for Games 2 and 3, starting at noon.