COMPTON, Calif. – The Riptide faced another loss on the road last night, in a close matchup versus the MLB Academy Barons. Despite an impressive pitching game and an early lead, the Riptide could not fend off the determined Barons.
The Barons struck immediately, capitalizing on a defensive error to tally a run in the first inning. The Riptide offense activated right away with a Michael Diaz double. J.C. Allen followed with a hit of his own: a sacrifice fly to score Diaz. With a tied game, the Riptide continued the momentum in the third inning.
Patrick Hackworth led the inning with a walk, and stole second base on a pass ball to Luke Johnson. The next pitch exploded off of Johnson’s bat, sending Hackworth home on a double. Ace Reese continued the trend, knocking in Johnson with a single. Patience at the plate allowed two more walks for Jake Brown and Diaz, but no more runs came in.
Andrew Parker pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed three earned runs in the Riptide’s loss to the Barons. (Photo courtesy GCP Films)
The Riptide’s offensive reign ended there, but the Barons remained hungry. The Academy bats came alive in the sixth, scoring two runs to tie the game, 3-3. A final run in the eighth, met with silence from the Riptide, secured the victory for the Barons.
Head Coach Connor Spencer cited defensive errors as the downfall of this particular outing. “We made a ton of defensive mistakes again,” he said. “If we played a clean baseball game for all nine innings, we would have a very, very good chance at winning this league.” Coach Spencer references his excellent pitching staff, but admits it is not enough to win games.
Despite the unfortunate short-term consequences, Coach Spencer hopes this will serve as a lesson for his team. He said, “they’ve got to be better, they’ve got to slow the game down, and they’ve got to put in the work that it takes to play consistent baseball.”
Though the matchup was unsuccessful for the Tide, it highlighted the offensive potential of certain players, namely Luke Johnson. Out of six total Riptide hits, Johnson took responsibility for half. His offensive technique could not save the Tide last night, but provides an optimistic outlook as the Riptide gears up for the post-season.
