Yucaipa flexes its muscle vs. Roosevelt
YUCAIPA » The Yucaipa High baseball team is quickly showing there are no easy outs in its lineup.
The Thunderbirds got contributions from top to bottom and put a few crooked numbers up on the scoreboard Tuesday afternoon en route to a 20-8 victory over Roosevelt in an Anaheim Lions Tournament game.
Yucaipa (3-0) finished with 19 hits, led by a 4-for-4 performance from freshman outfielder Wesley Hickey. Junior third baseman Jacob Reimer (3 for 4) and sophomore outfielder Owen Egan (3 for 5) each knocked in four runs for the T’Birds.
“We know everyone can compete and we trust one other to get the job done up there,” Reimer said. “It’s a really good feeling knowing that everyone in the lineup can come up with a big hit and get things going when we need it.”
Monday, Yucaipa rallied from a 6-1 deficit and pulled out a 7-6 win over Mission Viejo in eight innings. “I was happy to see a young team respond and finish,” Yucaipa coach Ralph Grajeda said of Monday’s win. “I didn’t expect to see something like that in Game 2, but that was an awesome thing to see as a coach.”
The T’Birds carried that momentum into Tuesday, scoring seven times with two outs in the opening inning. Reimer, Hickey and Daniel Arambula each plated a run to give Yucaipa a 3-1 lead. Aiden Richert smacked a two-run double, and Egan capped the big inning with a tworun single.
Roosevelt (2-2) put up a crooked number of its own in the top of the third inning, scoring five times to cut the deficit to 8-6. Aden Rubio delivered the big hit for the Mustangs, a threerun double with two outs.
Reimer helped Yucaipa get the momentum back with a towering two-run home run in the bottom of the third.
“It was a 1-2 count, and I’d seen four straight curve balls,” Reimer said. “I thought they might try to get me to chase a fastball up. I knew if he brought a fastball where I could get it, I would crush it.”
Yucaipa batted around for a second time in the fifth inning and scored eight more runs to put the game away.
Caiden Huber went 2 for 2, drew three walks and scored five runs for the T’Birds. Arambula and Richert had two hits apiece Tuesday afternoon. Richert, the T’Birds’ No. 9 hitter, scored four runs and knocked in three more.
Luke Deretich went 3 for 4 and drove in a run for Roosevelt.