They fought to the very end, but in the ninth game of the Golden State Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament on Thursday night the Westmont season came to a conclusion. The Warriors lost 6-4 to the #11 Eagles of Concordia, who are undefeated in the tournament.
Down 6-0 after five innings to a team which had not allowed a run in the last 21 innings of tournament play, the Warriors did what they have done all season. They kept fighting.
Michael Kwan took over duties on the mound in the sixth inning and did not allow the Eagles to score again. He allowed only one hit pitching the last three innings of the game.
Offensively, the Warriors broke onto the scoreboard with a run in the six, another in the seventh and two in the eighth. And they threatened to score even more in the eighth with bases loaded and two away, but the Eagles were able to escape with the win – their third of the tournament and sixth in their last seven games.
After the game, the team seemed unwilling to leave the field. In fact, they didn’t for about 30 minutes. They met with the coaching staff. They hugged each other, they (voluntarily) ran sprints, they huddled up, they shook hands, they high-fived.
“It is emotional for me,” said head coach Robert Ruiz, “I told the guys that I have never been around a group of guys that had worked so hard together, gave everything of themselves and cared about the guy next to them before themselves as much as these guys did.
“What I said to them was that for years to come when people look at Westmont Baseball they will look back at this team. They set a new standard. I couldn’t be more proud of every single guy on our roster, what they mean to this program and what they mean to us as a coaching staff. They have given us everything.
“They just won’t give in. That is the heart of the team. They will fight until someone tells us we can’t fight anymore. As a coach, it is rare you get to be around a group of guys that will give that to you every day. That is what these guys have done all year. I don’t have to motivate them because they motivate themselves. It is hard for me to see it be over for them. I love every single one of them.”
The Warriors finished with a record of 24-27-1, more wins than any Warrior team since 2000.
Concordia will advance to face Azusa Pacific at noon tomorrow for the GSAC Tournament Championships. If Concordia wins, Azusa Pacific is eliminated. If Azusa Pacific wins, the two teams will play a second game to decide the tournament champion.
