Ojai Valley School opened its baseball season Wednesday with an impressive 16-4 victory over Maricopa High School, as a trio of seniors set off an offensive
explosion that put away the game early.
Leading the way were seniors Masaki Takamatsu who had three hits at four at-bats, Connor Floyd who had three hits, including a triple and an RBI, and Matt Gustafson who went 2 for 4 with a double, triple and RBI.
Junior Brendan Goldberg had a solid game behind the plate in his first time playing catcher, and on offense he went 2-for-5, with five runs batted in.
“Overall it was a great team effort,” said head coach Craig Floyd, whose Spuds raced out to an 8-0 lead after two innings and never looked back.
Junior Satoshi Suzuki pitched five strong innings, racking up five strikeouts and giving up only one hit, to record the win. Connor came on in relief, pitching the final two innings and striking out four.
Sophomore Gavin Floyd played his first game in high school, and had two hits with a double, two RBIs and two walks. He also showed good glove work playing third base.
“It all came together for us,” Gavin said. “It was more fun than lacrosse has been for a long time, because I like winning.”
The Spuds are next scheduled to play at home on March 18 against Villanova Preparatory School. Game time is 3:30 p.m.