ORANGE – Experience in the Trinity League has taught JSerra baseball coach Brett Kay that he can never get too comfortable.
So even after the Lions collected a pair of victories over No. 2 Orange Lutheran earlier this week, Kay felt the pressure to secure the sweep.
Cole Samuels continued the Lions’ trend of dominant pitching, as top-ranked JSerra defeated Orange Lutheran, 7-0, on Friday at Hart Park to win all three games of the teams’ contests.
The sweep gave JSerra a 2½-game lead over a trio of teams – Orange Lutheran, Mater Dei and Santa Margarita – that are 5-4 in league.
“It’s never over, but this is huge sweeping them,” JSerra pitcher Colin Townsend said. “They’re one of the better teams in this league.”
JSerra’s starting pitchers were sensational in the three-game set. Townsend and Collin Quinn went the distance in the first two games for the Lions (19-6, 8-2).
Samuels, a junior, went first 51/3 innings Friday and allowed three hits while striking out five.
“They gained a lot of people’s trust back,” Lions infielder Royce Lewis said of the rotation’s performance this week. “It’s confidence-building. Our team really has its swagger back. This just set a standard for us.”
Lewis was one of three Lions to turn in multi-hit efforts. Davis Wendzel and David Le Bioda also had two hits of JSerra’s 10 hits.
Kay said the Lions had planned to see a lot of pitches against Lancers starter Cole Spear, but they didn’t wait for the ball to be put into play to make things happen. In the second, Townsend stole home after Brady Shockey drew a throw to first.
“It was pretty cool,” Townsend said. “ … The guy at first just pretended like he tripped. It was a set play, and when the catcher threw the ball, I just took off.”
JSerra led, 4-0, at that point and did not look back. Townsend also knocked in two runs.
Jasiah Dixon, Tristan Hanoian and Garrett Mitchell had hits for Orange Lutheran (16-6, 5-4).
