Kourtney Brumfield

Center fielder Kyle Johnson makes a relay throw back to the infield. Johnson hit a single in the seventh inning and later came around to score. The Leopards beat Whittier Friday, 9-2.

Galo Pesantes
Staff Writer

The start of SCIAC conference play was marked by the Leopards taking on the Whittier Poets for three games Feb. 24-25.

In the first game, La Verne opened up the series at home with starter Mark Simmons on the mound for the Leopards.

The Leopards jumped out the gate with the first run after lead off center fielder Lucas Berry scoring on a ground out by Jason Jarvis.
In the same inning, Scott Marcus continued his offensive prowess and blasted another home run for an early two run advantage over Whittier.

Later in the sixth inning, La Verne continued to exert itself on offense as Jason Jarvis drove in another two runs on a single.

First baseman Jon Marty also got in on the action as he drove a home run over the left field fence with a runner on.

The Leopards added one more run to win the game handily, 9-2.

Marty later explained the home run was a bit unexpected considering the sign called.

“It was supposed to be a hit-and-run,” said Marty, a senior from West Covina. “I just took a good swing and lifted it for the hit,” Marty said.

Pitching was solid for La Verne as starter Simmons managed to only give up one earned run on eight hits through six innings of work while receiving ample offensive support. Richard Johnson once again stepped in and fanned three Poet batters while providing relief support in the final three innings of work.

“Simmons went six strong innings and came out the game still pitching well,” said Marcus, who went 1-3 in the first game. “Then, Richard Johnson showed good command and control by sealing the game in the last few innings.”

“I just battled my way through the innings,” Simmons said after the game. “I got some key pitches and some key outs throughout the game and relied on my defense a lot through it all.”

Winterburn remained positive with the performance of the team after the first game especially with the pitching.

“Mark Simmons showed why he is one of the best Division III pitchers in the nation with his performance,” Winterburn said. “Richard Johnson again showed great poise out of the pen and did well and overall we were pretty satisfied with the win.”

However, La Verne was unable to hold its winning ways against Whittier as they did at home.

The next day, the Poets hosted La Verne for two games in Whittier in efforts to avenge the loss of the first game.

La Verne went ahead of Whittier in fifth inning 3-1 before the Poets began to fight their way back.

Whittier scored three more runs in the fifth and sixth innings to retake the lead at 4-3.

After Jamar hit another RBI, La Verne evened up the game at 4-4 entering the eighth inning.

However, the Poets capitalized on some errors by the Leopards and regained the lead to win, 7-5.

Third baseman Colby Jamar ended his day at the plate by going 3-4 with three 3 RBIs in the first game.

“We had some missed opportunities that we could have scored,” said Winterburn, following the first loss of the double header. “Their big starting lefty shut us down early and we weren’t able to respond there after.”

In the second game, La Verne fell back early in the game trailing 4-1 after seven innings of play.

The Leopards then began to let their bats get back in the game starting with Daniel Talbot hitting his one of his three hits total in the game.

Later, Jamar and Jarvis both converted on RBIs to shrink the Whittier lead to only one run.

Yet, the Leopards finally stalled offensively with the bases loaded and one out resulting in the last two Leopard batters being retired.

The Whittier bullpen sealed the game in the ninth inning by shutting out the Leopards with its last three batters.

“In the second game, Bowers pitched great but we had some miscues in our fielding and Whittier cashed in on those mistakes,” Winterburn said. “Five batters in our lineup combined to go 3-43, in the last two games and with 2/3 of the lineup hitting like that, you aren’t going to win many games.”

The Leopards will continue SCIAC league play and begin its three game series in Occidental today at 2:30 p.m.

La Verne will then host the Tigers and attempt to go for the sweep against them on Saturday for a doubleheader at home with the first game starting at 11 a.m.

Galo Pesantes can be reached at gpesantes@ulv.edu.