The Culver City High School baseball team will travel to La Habra High School on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. and the second game scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. start. The Centaurs are 10-6 overall and 1-1 in the Ocean League while the La Habra Highlanders are 8-7 and 3-2 in league play.
The next home game for the Centaurs will be Thursday April 24, when they battle Hawthorne in a very important Ocean League game at 3:15 p.m. The Cougars are currently 8-5-1 and 0-2 in the Ocean League with their two league losses being against Santa Monica. Culver City and Santa Monica are the favorites to win the Ocean League but Culver City’s 2-1 loss to Beverly Hills last Thursday proves that the league is better than it was last season.
Santa Monica is 12-3 and 2-0 in league play and Beverly Hills is 8-7 and 1-1 in league play. The Centaurs’ loss to Beverly Hills was a big upset after the Culver City beat them at home 14-0 on Tuesday April 8, in what seemed like the team looking past the Beverly Hills squad.
“We talked about that when we got on the bus,” said head coach Rick Prieto after the loss on Thursday. “You have to give Beverly Hills credit. Their pitcher did a good job. We out hit Beverly Hills eight to seven but their hits counted and our hits made little difference in the game.”
Beverly Hills Coach Vonzie Paysinger was elated with the win.
“This was a big win against a quality opponent ,” said Paysinger. “Culver City has a good team. Everyone can swing the bat. They play good defense and their pitching is very good. I think they are the team to beat in the Ocean League.”
If the Centaurs want to continue to be the team to beat they need to drive in runs when they are in scoring position.
“Without question it’s key hits that count,” Prieto said. “We had runners in scoring position in the sixth inning with our best hitter, Jay Sterner at bat. He hits a line drive to the shortstop. If that hit goes through we score one or two runs. That’s the kind of game it was.”
The Centaur continue to be led by the hitting of Sterner (.477), Daniel Hennessy (.333), Kelvin Murillo (.333) and Darian Sylvester (.316). Sterner has a pitching record of 3-0 and Eli Bowie record on the mound is 3-1.
“We wanted to be 10-0 in the Ocean League,” said Prieto. “Now we have to go 9-1 and still win the Ocean League.”