Western Slugs Their Way Past Taravella

A battle of 4-2 teams resulted in a 9-4 win for the Western Wildcats as they downed the Taravella Trojans on Thursday night.

The bottom of the order was nearly flawless at the plate for the visiting Wildcats, with the seven, eight and nine hitters combining to hit 8-for-9, score six runs and drive in five more. They did a good chunk of their damage in a five-run fourth inning.

After falling down by a run in the second, number six hitter Jean Franco led off Western’s half of the fourth with a single. David Flores and Anthony Munoz followed suit with base hits of their own, loading the bags for Anthony Leary in the nine-hole. Leary responded with a two-run single to account for two of his four RBIs on the night. From there, the rest of the lineup did their part to bring in the remaining three runs.

But the guys at the bottom were not done yet for Western (5-2). Flores, who was 4-for-4, led off the fifth with his third single and came home for the second of his three runs when Leary sent a ball sailing over the right-field fence. Flores led off the seventh inning as well and this time it was his turn to go yard, sending the first pitch he saw over the center-field fence.

“David had a great approach all night,” said Western manager Paul Barnes. “He didn’t try to do too much and shortened up when he needed to. That allowed him to square the ball up every at-bat.”

Sandwiched between Flores and Leary, Munoz may not have been as flashy but was just as productive. In addition to his two base knocks he also laid down a nice sacrifice bunt and drew a walk.

Nik Sanders had a big night for Taravella (4-3), batting 3-for-4. He scored on an RBI by Nick Carrasco in the Trojans two-run fifth and hit the third long ball of the night in the bottom of the seventh.

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