by Ammar Khan

With runners on second and third base in the bottom of the first inning, Crawdads sophomore pitcher Nic Bronzini faced Legends first baseman, Jordan Crawford.

As Crawford’s hit went towards the right side, it seemed the Legends would be on the board first. 

However, Crawdads senior outfielder Mark Wolbert had a change of plans as he made a diving catch that gave his pitcher a much-needed third out.

Wolbert’s diving catch ultimately set the tone for the Crawdads.

The Walnut Creek Crawdads (6-4) traveled west to San Mateo to take on the Menlo Park Legends (4-3) in a CCL North division matchup.

From the get-go, the Crawdads’ fiery play from their four previous wins was present yet again in this matchup.

After Wolbert’s hustle play to prevent the Legends from striking first, the Crawdads had a second inning that was eerily similar to the second inning in their last matchup; getting on the scoreboard earlier and faster.

The inning featured bases loaded, a stolen base, and a run from sophomore outfielder Aiden Camberg, an RBI triple for senior first baseman Isaiah Walker, and batters Nico DeFazio, Nikhil Beasley, and Mark Wolbert all walking to first base consecutively.

The action-packed inning ended with the Crawdads up 2-0.

The Crawdads offense continued to take advantage of poor pitching and defense from the Legends. The team stole bases several times throughout the game, especially in the eighth inning.

However, the offense was not the only reason for the team’s success in San Mateo.

Junior pitcher Drew Aguiar put on a masterclass performance. Aguiar, who pitched four innings, went flawless.

He ended the game with seven strikeouts and no runs or hits allowed.

“I was just thinking in my head, ‘one pitch at a time’, said Aguiar. “He (Nikhil) did a great job of giving me a target to hit and then trusting the defense who is always working hard for me helped”.