Comets mangle Eagles in 5-0 victory

In their Bay Valley Conference opener, the Comets received a great performance from their offense and defense to secure a 5-0 victory against Mendocino College at home on Thursday.

After being able to only score one run in their previous three games, the Comets (1-0 BVC, 3-9 overall) finally stepped up to the plate and got 14 hits and five runs against the Eagles (0-1 BVC, 1-11-1 overall).

"They focused on hitting line drives and grounders, not fly balls," Comets' coach Marvin Webb said. "We've been building and building up, and we finally played a good game. We had good defense, got timely hits and had the desire to win."

Contra Costa College got the opening run of the game in the second inning when centerfielder Cory Oda's single was enough to bring second baseman Kyle Tobler home from second base to put the squad ahead 1-0.

The fourth inning brought the same result at the plate, as Oda was able to advance Tobler to second base on a ground ball that buzzed past the Mendocino shortstop.  

Oda scored a run after stealing third base and eventually coming home on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Cameron Doorn. By the end of the fourth inning the Comets led 4-0.

For the game, Oda had a total of three hits, one RBI and one run scored.

"The hitting finally came around. We were able to get some runs early and stay in the game," Comet starting pitcher Chris Lovejoy said. "Once we established the lead, we were able to keep the momentum going."

He said the team entered the game with a different mentality. With it being the first game of conference play, he said the team saw it as an opportunity for starting off undefeated in league.

For their next game, the Comets will travel to Kentfield to play College of Marin on Thursday at 2 p.m.

With the runs in, late in the game the victory came down to  pitching and defense to hold down the Eagles' offense.

"We were swinging the bat pretty good. Lovejoy was in the game and the defense backed him up," Oda said.

Despite allowing eight hits and making an error, the Comet defense performed well and backed their starting pitcher, Lovejoy, for the entire game.

Together, the team was able to get out of a jam in the top of eighth inning when the Eagles had the bases loaded with two outs. Lovejoy struck out the last batter to end the inning. He had a total of four strikeouts and pitched a complete nine inning game.

"Our fielding was excellent today. We were all solid and our pitching was on spot," Tobler said.

The addition of Tobler to the starting lineup was a change that worked out well for the Comets, as he scored three runs and reached base three times on two singles and an error made by Eagles' shortstop Erik Hanson.

"We changed our defense," Webb said. "We had Kyle Tobler at second base, he came through big with big hits today, and Donnie Hogan in right field. Everybody played good defense today."

Off the field, Tobler helped hype up the team at the beginning of each bottom inning by gathering the team into a huddle and shouting words like "bash" and others that rhymed with it.

"It just got us fired up as a team and got us more intense," Tobler said.

Webb said this helped the team keep its momentum going throughout the game, unlike in previous games when it fell flat after the fifth inning.

"If they play with the same enthusiasm, we can expect more good games and wins," he said.