SAMOHI — Inglewood head coach Tracy Cathey said it best, "Experience versus inexperience."
Santa Monica baseball out-pitched, out-hit and out-fielded Inglewood during a 17-0 rout on Thursday at home.
From the jump, Inglewood was in trouble.
Samohi starting pitcher Eli Bieber struck out Inglewood's leadoff hitter and never looked back. Bieber tossed four innings of seven strikeout ball en route to the win.
"I felt great out there," Bieber said. "I was just doing me."
After a scoreless first inning, Samohi got on the board when senior shortstop Mason Landis scored on a throwing error, giving the Vikings the only run they would need.
But they weren't done yet.
The bottom of the third inning saw Samohi senior center fielder Alex Turner slap a fastball into deep left-center field for an inside the park home run.
Freddie Norris followed with a single and eventually came around to score when Jonathan Rakuljic was beaned by Inglewood starter Anthony Pozos with the bases loaded.
Samohi went on to score six runs in the third giving the Vikings a 7-0 lead.
Bieber yielded to Ryan Barbarin, who continued Samohi's strong pitching. Barbarin recorded eight strikeouts in three innings to close the game out, giving Samohi pitchers 15 strikeouts on the afternoon.
The win improves Samohi to 13-9 overall, and more importantly, 4-0 in Ocean League play.
The wins are nice, but Samohi head coach Kurt Schwengel knows that games like Thursday's laugher won't prepare his Vikings for the likes of primary league rival Culver City.
The two teams play a pair of games to end the regular season that appear destined to decide the league title.
"We just have to put this one behind us and have a hard practice tomorrow," Schwengel said. "Even though we won, there are still things that we didn't do right today. Little things like bunting and base running errors are what we have to work on."
Next for Samohi is a home game against nearby Palisades as part of the Redondo Tournament. The game is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Samohi.
daniela@www.smdp.com
