Baseball team shuts out Imperial Valley in opener

Courtesy of Terry Jack
Courtesy of Terry Jack

Irvine Valley's baseball team couldn't have imagined a much better way to start the 2015 season.

The Lasers dominated from start to finish in beating Imperial Valley, 12-0, in a non-conference game at home on Tuesday afternoon.

Irvine Valley scored single runs in the first and third innings and then broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the fourth and six more in the bottom of the sixth inning.

IVC finished with 15 hits in the contest. Eight players had at least one hit with four Lasers contributing two hits or more.

Eight players drove in at least one run in the game as well.

Freshman center fielder Dillon Millar went 4 for 6 with two runs scored, one RBI and a stolen base, freshman first baseman Lucas Tancas was 3 for 4 with a double, two RBI and a stolen base, sophomore right fielder Brett Hamilton was 2 for 5 with a triple, three runs scored and three RBI and freshman left fielder Clint Jack went 2 for 4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI.

Jack, Irvine Valley's lead-off hitter, reached base four times on the day.

"This was a great beginning for us, but we will get back at it and continue to work tomorrow," IVC coach Kent Madole said. "What I do love is looking down at our lineup and seeing all of the freshmen producing."

IVC got a solid start on the mound by sophomore right-hander Justin Zielinski. Zielinski, Irvine Valley's top returning hurler, worked six innings and allowed just two hits with two strikeouts. He faced just 21 batters.

Freshmen Marco Bedolla, Alex Diaz and Tyler Miller each worked a scoreless inning of relief for Irvine Valley. Bedolla had two strikeouts.

Mario Vazquez took the loss for Imperial Valley. He went three innings and gave up two runs on three hits. Imperial Valley made four errors in the contest and six of the runs it gave up were unearned.

Irvine Valley plays again on Friday at home against Los Angeles Valley at 2 p.m. It is the first of a back-to-back set with LA Valley. The Lasers will also host the Monarchs on Saturday at 12 p.m.