Knights claim victory over Rosamond in baseball
Desert Christian getting hot before league starts
LANCASTER — After dropping its first two games of the season, the Desert Christian baseball team and its bats have woken up the past two games.
After a 14-0 victory against Glenn of Norwalk on Wednesday, the Knights kept the hot bats alive on Friday with an easy 11-2 victory against rival Rosamond, at Rawley Duntley Park.
“The guys have put in a lot of work and it has shown. It’s starting to pay off during the games. The men put out a great game today,” Desert Christian head coach Adam Zeko said. “I thought we played well overall. We’re coming together as a team. The kids are playing really well right now.”
The Roadrunners (0-1) grabbed a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning after scoring all their runners on four walks and a couple of wild pitches.
However, that was shortlived as the Knights rallied in the bottom half of the inning with three runs to take a 4-2 lead, one it wouldn’t relinquish. A Texas League single by Jacob Acosta scored Andrew Zeko. That was followed by a triple to deep right-center field by Diego Rodriguez, which scored Acosta and his brother Isaac.
In the bottom of the fourth inning Desert Christian (2-2) scored a couple of more runs following a double by Jacob Acosta as Isaac scored again.
“I’m just thankful we’re out here and able to play and that families can watch their kids. I knew we’d have some rust. The kids have been at home on their computers most of the time and their bodies are still adjusting,” Rosamond head coach Charles Wallis said. “It’s going to take us a while to get in playing shape. We saw some things to build on. I’m pleased we got to play, but we know what we need to work on.”
Desert Christian’s Jordan Barnes entered the game to pitch for the Knights in the top of the fourth inning and was stellar while picking up the win. Barnes (1-1) only allowed one hit while striking out four. He also helped himself out at the plate collecting two hits and one RBI.
“It was a pretty good game. I thought the boys came together. We’re starting to work together as a team,” Barnes said. “Our bats were out and we didn’t make a lot of errors.
We’re really confident going into league.”
The Knights capitalized off five errors by Rosamond and several misplayed balls in the outfield.
Desert Christian blew the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth inning following a two-RBI double by Chase Pfeil, extending the lead to 10-2. The Knights added one more later in the inning.
“I thought we played horrible today. We have to come out wanting to play baseball. We had some errors and some miscommunication out there,” said Rosamond’s Daniel Flores. “We have to play better. We’re a way better team than this.”
Andrew Zeko was 1-for-1 with three runs scored and started the game on the mound. He struck out five batters, but he also walked five while allowing two hits. Jacob Acosta finished the game 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Flores, Sebastian Mercado and Garett Kofahl collected the only hits for the Roadrunners, each with a single.