Vanguard drought lingers

COSTA MESA — The cancellation of a three-game series and three additional rainouts combined to deny the Vanguard baseball team much of its dry run before entering Golden State Athletic Conference play.

And, going straight from dugout puddles into the GSAC fire can be problematic for a program still adjusting to a first-year coach, as well as 13 college transfers on the roster.

The Lions, still shuffling to set their pitching rotation as well as their lineup, Coach Ralph Grajeda said, lost a doubleheader to conference visitor Cal Baptist Saturday.

The Lancers (13-2, 5-2 in the GSAC) posted an 11-5 win in the opener, before pulling away for an 8-2 triumph to complete the sweep.

“When you play baseball, you have to consistently play,” said Grajeda, who took over for Scott Mallernee after the Lions went 17-33, 8-28 in conference a year ago. “Patton University, due to budget cups, [canceled] a three-game series. Then, we had a doubleheader the next week with [GSAC rival] The Master’s lost that to rain. We also lost a game [Tuesday] against Cal State Dominguez Hills to rain. So we’re short six games because of that. That’s significant when your preparing your club.

“For us, you can see pieces are there. We’ve just got to get them going in the right direction. But a preseason schedule allows you to do that. And we’re realistic with it, we understand that.”

The unsettled pitching situation for the Lions (1-7, 0-5) was personified by Game 2 starter Chris Carls. The senior right-hander was projected to shift from a starting role (6-3 with a 3.29 earned-run average and two complete games in 2008) to closer this season.

“But the way things have been going [a 6.40 staff earned-run average entering Game 2], we had to move him up and make him a starter,” Grajeda said. “In a perfect world, Chris would be a reliever. But where we’re at right now in the schedule, he’s probably going to be a starter.”

Carls, who had made two scoreless relieve appearances this season, appeared comfortable in his starting spot. He went 5 1/3 innings in the scheduled seven-inning game, limiting the Lancers to four hits and two earned runs. And, thanks to senior reliever Brian Lewis stranding two runners in scoring position while getting the final two outs of the sixth, the Vanguard deficit was 3-1 heading to the seventh.

The visitors, however, erupted for five runs in the seventh to pull away.

Brett Siegmund, a senior third baseman who took last season off after playing previously at Indiana State, was two for three to pace the Lions’ six-hit attack in the second game. Siegmund launched a first-pitch home run to open the second inning and tie the score. He smoked a double to right-center field in the fourth and was retired in the sixth when his laser-beam liner was virtually at the left fielder.

“We got ahold of him late and he’s been coming around,” Grajeda said of Siegmund.

Grajeda also praised the overall play, thus far, of senior shortstop Zach Leighton, who entered Saturday hitting .500 in 16 at-bats.

Leighton also made the Lions’ best defensive play of Game 2: a crouching, backhand pick of skipping liner in the hole, after which he rose to his feet to throw to first to record the out and end the Cal Baptist fifth.

“Zach is doing a great job defensively, he’s swinging [the bat] and he’s stealing bases,” Grajeda said.

The first-year coach who had been an assistant at Riverside Community College, also singled out the early season performance of junior Eric Krzysiak.

Krzysiak, who earned All-GSAC honors playing for Cal Baptist in 2007, before playing last season at Riverside Community College, haunted his former mates with a strong first game Saturday. He was two for four with two runs batted in. He was one for three in the second game, including a ground ball to the right side on which he was robbed of a hit by a diving effort from second baseman Robert Burk.

Junior right fielder Brett Halstead had an RBI double in the seventh to produce Vanguard’s other run.

Senior first baseman Derek Craddock went two for three in the opener, in which Zach Falk was one for four with two RBIs.

Cal Baptist freshman left-hander Taylor Siemens earned the complete-game victory in Game 2, improving to 3-0, though the two earned runs he allowed upped his ERA to 2.08.

“The Biggest thing here is, our guys playing against the game a little bit,” said Grajeda, whose squad has lost two of its three one-run games, and suffered a two-run defeat. “We’re asking them to do things that, for some guys, is new, and that’s competing pitch-to-pitch, every inning. But we’re making strides. I’m not too concerned right now with record. There are 40-plus games to go and we’re getting better every outing.”

Golden State Athletic Conference

Game 2

Cal Baptist 8, Vanguard 2

SCORE BY INNINGS

Siemens and Othman; Carls, Lewis (6), Day (7) and Ramiro. W – Siemens, 3-0. L – Carls, 0-1. 2B – Siegmund (VU), J. Johnson (CB); Halstead (VU), Bullard (DB), Fages (CB). HR – Siegmund (VU), Hedges (CB).

Game 1

Cal Baptist 11, Vanguard 5

SCORE BY INNINGS

PFerreira, Allen (1), Arballo (9) and Othman; Jessup, Curtis (4), Oseguera (4), Vollkemmer (9) and Krzysiak. W – Ferreira, 1-0. L – Jessup, 0-1. 2B – M. Johnson (CB), Bullard (CB), M. Johnson (CB), Sharp (CB), Atkins (VU), Krzysiak (VU). 3B – Wood (VU), Krzysiak (VU), Craddock (VU).

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].