The Warriors defeated the McNeil Mavericks 9-2 on Wednesday, April 27, at the Park Baseball Field. The district championship title was riding on this game, the Warriors pulled through with a win. With this title, not only are the Warriors ranked first in their league, but they also rallied the support of the entire Westwood community and parents alike.

“The team was more than just those on the field, it was all of the supporters, the parents, the school, the players’ girlfriends, and even the players on the bench were the whole team,” Mike Gula, a parent and avid Warrior baseball follower, said. “Winning is good for the school, good for the kids, and winning a District Title is a big time in baseball.”

The Warriors were able to maintain a lead, with the Mavericks scoring their only points in the first inning and then being blocked by the Warriors for the remainder of the game. The Warriors scored zero to three points per inning amounting to nine points and a district victory.

“This was the goal for the team for the past year and to finally have that goal in your hands and be a district champ is great,” Caleb Moore ‘23 said. “We were celebrating last night, all up in the bus partying and we’re just ready to get into the playoffs and have fun again.”

Picking up bases seemed to be no issue for the Warriors, with Luke Rupertus ‘23 sliding into the home base before the ball even hit the ground during the second inning.  With another point under their belt, the crowd amped up for the boys, who pulled off the same stunt later in the game.

“At the beginning of the year we knew this was our goal. Every player wrote it down on a baseball and put it in their locker like this is what we were going to accomplish,” Matthew Lescano ‘22 said. “I’m proud of all my teammates, they all played together and that’s the reason we accomplished what we did.”

Three Strikes and the Mavericks were out. Pitching by Jared Hyman ‘22 and Ridge Morgan ‘24 amplified team success as the Mavericks did not even get a chance to run the bases. Hyman struck three opponents out while Morgan came in clutch with his fastballs, blocking any hits from the Mavericks and both switching the Warriors to be back on offense.

“Highlight wise, my double over the center fielder’s head was really good but my pitching on the mound was not as good,” Morgan said. “I had a few strikeouts on my slider which is the pitch I was working on all night, it helped us get ahead early.”

Gus Wendland ‘22 grabbed attention with his outfielder catch which protected the Warriors from a two-point run by the Mavericks. With the Maverick’s sprinting to home base, Wendland’s catch shocked the opposing team, who had already begun celebrating in the home dugout.

“[The catch] was really exciting. I hadn’t really had much action and I saw the ball go up and thought ‘Well, this is mine,’” Wendland said. “I overended it a little bit which is why I decided to slide but, I think it made it look really cool.” 

With this new title of District Champs held by Warrior baseball, the school is wrangling support for the team’s success in future games. This is a massive win for the Warriors, and we can expect to see more great games this next week as the Warriors are programmed to play San Marcos Rattlers in back-to-back games, on Thursday, May 5, at the Warrior Field, Friday, May 6 at the Snake Pit, and Saturday, May 7 back at the Warrior Field.