MVHS Baseball Inches Closer To CIF Playoffs

With just five regular season games remaining heading into last week for the Mar Vista High School baseball team, winning was now more critical than ever.

And with all their remaining games being within their conference, no win would come gift-wrapped. But high-pressure games are nothing new for the defending Division V Champions.

For their first game last week, the Mariners would bring home a much-needed win when they took home a 14-3 victory over Mater Dei High School. An excellent bounce-back win, considering just two days prior, they had fallen to that same Mater Dei team in a 7-5 heartbreaker.

On the bump for game two versus Mater Dei, Mar Vista would get a great outing from senior right-hander Trevor Rector. It was another classic outing for one of the standouts on the Mar Vista pitching staff as he worked five innings, and allowed three runs on six hits while also fanning five in the afternoon.

Rector did struggle a bit with his command, as he walked four, but altogether, it was a rather gritty performance.

At the dish, the Mariners would put up runs consistently with two runs in the fourth and fifth. But the big blow would come in the bottom half of the sixth when the Mariners would explode for eight runs.

The heavy lifting would come from the trio of Devon King, Andrew Guevara, and Joseph Spicer, as they would combine for nine RBIs and go 5-9 collectively at the plate, with Spicer also tallying a towering home run in the afternoon. Also deserving of recognition would be sophomore Jayden Tillman, as the young gun stayed consistent in his approach and recorded a 3-4 day at the plate.

After splitting the series, the Mariners would turn their attention to their next two opponents in San Ysidro and Hilltop. Unfortunately for the Mariners, they would fall to San Ysidro by a score of 5-0.

But as we’ve seen, this is a resilient group. They would show the heart of a champion as they would yet again bounce back versus Hilltop and take home a critical 3-1 victory.

In what was a certified pitcher’s duel, Mar Vista would again hand the ball to Trevor Rector. Rector would respond by working 6+ innings allowing just one run (which came in the first), on five hits, and striking out eight.

To get the final out of the game, the Mariners would turn to Lucious Ordaz, who would retire the only batter he would face to earn the save.

While the bats were not on fire for Mar Vista, they did enough to get the job done, as the big hits would come from Tyler Kavanaugh and King.

With the win, the Mariner’s record now sits at 16-10, with a conference record of 5-3. Mar Vista will be back in action for the final game of their regular season on Wednesday, May 10 versus Mater Dei. A game that will already conclude by the time this paper is at your doorstep.

Vol. 39, No. 19 - Thursday, May 11, 2023