By Joel Herrera
Pima starting pitcher Luis Pablo Navarro (5) and first baseman Nolan Ganter (34) after their 6-5 win over Mesa CC in the first of two games on April 8.
Game one featured a walk-off three run homerun from Nolan Ganter, game two resulted in a 5-0 shutout and Pima Baseball completed the season sweep of Mesa Community College as they took both games on Tuesday, April 8.
The first of the two games would only be seven innings due to the double header. Mesa CC jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first and the Thunderbirds would add on in the second inning taking a 2-0 lead.
Pima cut into the deficit in the bottom half of the second thanks to a run batted in in-field single from catcher Ernie Alvarez. Outfielder Zach Plasschaert would tie the score in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single.
Mesa would get runners in scoring position with one out in the top of the sixth, resulting in a massive three-run inning for the Thunderbirds to put them ahead 5-2 in the late stages of the game.
Pima cut into the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Plasschaert hit a sacrifice fly out that drove in a run and the Aztecs headed into the final inning trailing 5-3.
Pima got on base early and Ganter crushed a three-run home run to deep center to walk it off for the Aztecs with a 6-5 win.
“I was just trying to pass the torch, get on [base] and keep the game going,” Ganter said. “I knew I hit it good. I was hoping there would be a little wind to help me but it got over.”
Pima starting pitcher Luis Pablo Navarro showed out on the defensive end in game one. The left-handed pitcher struck out six batters and only gave up five hits in his 5.1 innings pitched.
Relief pitcher Tsubasa Tomii picked up the win for Pima in his 1.2 innings pitched. Relief pitcher Christian Woodward received the loss for Mesa.
Pima starting pitcher Luis Pablo Navarro throwing a strike during the Aztecs’ 6-5 win over Mesa CC in game one of a double-header on April 8.
“I came out good with my off-speed curveball, had that fastball running. It was a good day,” Navarro said.
Navarro reflected on the good energy and atmosphere in the dugout while the Aztecs were mounting their comeback. “We’re hyped, it’s happened a lot of time and we never give up … we win games like that.”
“We just keep winning games, we don’t let off the gas,” Navarro said. “We just have to keep winning more and make the playoffs.
That mentality carried over into game two of the double header as Pima controlled all nine innings en route to a 5-0 shutout win to sweep the day series.
Plasschaert got the scoring going with a solo home run in the bottom of the second. The Aztecs added two runs in each the second and third innings and never looked back.
Starting pitcher Lucas Casey pitched a beautiful game, striking out seven and allowing only three hits in five innings of play.
Casey and relief pitchers Taylin Oana and Andres Castro combined for 12 total strikeouts in their shutout.
Pima Baseball improves to 39-9 after the double-header sweep.