Grand Slam Stays Home for Another Year

On March 4th, 2023, the San Dimas Saints Varsity Baseball team got their revenge on cross-town rival, the Bonita Bearcats. Two games prior to the annual ‘Grand Slam’ game, the Saints lost to the Bearcats in the championship game of the Pizza Chalet Tournament, so they went into the game with a stronger determination to win. 

The Saints started the season off strong winning their first three games straight out of the gate. That quickly changed as they proceeded to lose their next two games and now came into the Grand Slam with a record of 3-2. The Bearcats came into this game scorching hot, with a record of 4-0. 

The game started slow for both teams as both the Saints and Bearcats had strong pitchers on the mound. Through the first two innings, both teams were scoreless and it seemed as if a pitchers’ duel was taking place. The Saints didn’t panic because they knew they had to keep their composure in order to stay confident in themselves and each other.

In the bottom of the third inning, with one out, Sophomore Vaughn Coleman hit a single up the middle to give the Saints a little spark. Immediately after, Junior Landon White hit a double in the left-center gap that rolled up against the wall, to score Coleman. When asked what his approach was, White said, “I was just expecting his fastball. I do that everytime and he threw it first pitch so I was able to capitalize.” This would end up being the only run scored in the whole game as both teams would be shut out for the remainder of the game. Even though both teams threatened in multiple innings, no one could push a run across after the third inning. 

Pitcher Kody King was phenomenal as he threw a complete game shutout, limiting the Bearcats to just one hit. He was in control the entire game and was able to push the Saints to a victory. The southpaw threw 106 pitches, struck out nine batters, and walked just three in an absolute dominant performance. When asked about his mindset and what worked during the game, he said, “Everything was working for me that day. I felt very confident in myself and in the guys backing me up. I was just trying to have a fast tempo and get our defense back in the dugout as fast as possible.”

The Saints handed Bonita their first loss of the season and improved to a record of 4-2 while keeping the Grand Slam trophy at home for another year. They hope to carry that momentum into future games throughout the season. The Saints will be competing in two of the best tournaments around, the Boras and National Classic, to kick off the month of April.