PASADENA, CA — At Jackie Robinson Field, just outside of the Rose Bowl, the Arroyo Seco Saints held their opening day game as they hosted the undefeated San Diego Waves.

The Saints came into the game trying to start the season off right, while the Waves look to add another win to record, coming off a high-scoring 8-6 victory over the San Diego Hustle on Thursday.

The Saints returned all but two players from their roster from the previous season, so it was interesting to see how they would perform together as a team.

“We got a good group of guys, I’m looking forward to getting close with everyone,” said Eli Lopez, an infielder from Cal State Fullerton. “There’s a lot of good personalities on the team, I’m excited.”

In this game, it would be the Saints getting the early lead in the bottom of the 2^nd inning. With bases loaded for Noah Williams, from Colorado State University Pueblo, where he would earn an RBI walk. With bases loaded again, Lopez would earn himself an RBI off a fielder’s choice, leaving the score 2-0.

But the Saints’ scoring would stall, as the Waves would kick start their offense in the top of the 4^th inning.

The Waves had bases loaded for them as Michael Mira from Concordia University hit a sacrifice fly bringing Andreas Nilsen from Saddleback College for their first run of the game.

The scoring would not stop there for the Waves as they would score off an error from Saint’s right fielder, Gannon Snyder, on a pop fly from Orange Coast College’s Tyler Covington; he would bring in Nathan Norman from Cypress College for the 2-2 tie.

The Waves would once again pick up their scoring in the top of the 6^th inning as Saddleback College’s Dmitri Susidko would get the go-ahead RBI bringing in Austin Palmares, from Saddleback College, making the score 3-2.

But the Waves were not done. In the top of the 7^th, Southwestern College’s Jacob May would earn himself an RBI by bringing in Matthew Thomas from Cal Berkley. May would get the favor returned by getting to home plate off a hit from Nilsen, extending the score to 5-2.

However, the Saints would not go away without a fight, as they would score 5 runs in the bottom of the 7^thinning. The 5-run effort would start with an RBI Walk from Trotter Enright, from Cal State Long Beach, into an RBI single from Snyder.

Another RBI Walk for the Saints would let Jack Little, from Baylor University, reach home plate. The Saints capitalized by finishing the inning with a 2 RBI from Azusa Pacific’s Jacob Freer, leaving the score at 7-5.

The Waves would answer with a run of their own at the start of the 8^th inning, as May would get his second RBI of the game bringing in Susidko, making the score 7-6.

The Waves’ offensive momentum would carry off into the 9^th inning, as it would start with an RBI Walk from Susidko to make the score tied at 7. Then going into an RBI single by Liam O’Day, from Del Notre High School, got Rodgers State’s Andrew Ramirez to home plate to give the lead back to San Diego.

But it would be a Grand Slam from Thomas, putting a stamp on the top of the 9^th, making the score now 12-7.

Before it was all said and done, the Saints would get a few more runs to the board, off the bat of Freer and Levi Maddela from Shorter University. The final score would be 12-9, with the Waves securing the victory.

Even though the Saints fell short in the game, Head Coach Aaron Milam preached about the talent that the Saints have.

“This is game one, and that team did a lot of things better than my past 21 years of coaching [this] team, have done in game one,” said Milam. “If you watch those guys play, they are pretty good. Obviously, every team needs a break now and then, but to see those guys back and forth, they are going to be really, really good.”

One player specifically that Milam talked about was Lopez.

“[He is] as good as it gets,” Milam said. “We had [a player named] Brandon Bohning here in 2011, and so that gets me pretty excited.”

Lopez earned himself an RBI in the game by also grabbing a couple hits too, but he credits his success to his teammates.

“Playing some consistent baseball is the main goal here, the mentality, being positive, good self-talk, said Lopez. “The guys were on me picking me up, I did the same for them. Playing hard all summer long and see where it takes us.”

The Saints are looking to bounce back in their next game, and Milam is looking for his players on the mound to step up.

“They need to stop throwing the poopy sliders,” said Milam. “And stop worrying about the revolutions per minute.”

Up next Saints have the Academy Barons on Saturday June 7. The game will start at 6:05 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Field.

Contributors:

• Saints reporter Nick Olquin (Ashland)
• Edited by Saints reporter Tyler Bowne (San Diego State)
• Saints photographer Carina Sanchez (California State University Los Angeles)