Darryl Harvey
SMDP Intern
The Santa Monica Vikings were defeated by the Royal Highlanders, 5-3, on Friday, March 28th. Santa Monica Vikings pitcher Eddie Jennings threw 109 pitches over six innings and recorded seven strikeouts. Royal High School pitcher Dustin Dunnwoody threw 83 pitches over five innings and recorded six strikeouts.
In terms of facing Royal, Vikings head coach Jordan Sigman said, “I think we have a very strong team. But Royal is obviously very good as well. They got several Division I college commits so it should be a good challenge for us.”
The players for Royal going Division I are: Caden Sramek - Oklahoma State, Dustin Dunnwoody - University of Arizona, Brady Hewitt - University of Oregon, Dean Barkman - UCSB and Zachary Nagy - University of San Francisco.
In regards to the pitching situation for the Vikings, head coach Sigman said, “We’re giving the ball to Eddie Jennings. He's very experienced, he’s a senior and he’s our ace for sure. He pitched in two playoff games last year for us, won both of them and he pitched very well. So, he’s got the ball to start and our bullpen is fully stacked behind him.”
In the first inning, Jennings looked focused; however, a hit by Hewitt, brought in a runner for a 1-0 Highlanders lead. In the second inning, Nagy was able to get a big hit into right field. This led to a play at the plate where Royal scored - Royal was now up 2-0. Santa Monica third baseman Tre Camp ended the inning with a put out to first. Camp’s primary position is middle infield and shortstop. He weighed in on the fielding third base, “It felt good. It’s an adjustment but I was able to make it work.” In the bottom of the second, a big hit by Santa Monica’s Eric Gonzalez brought in a runner. The score was now 2-1 in favor of Royal. In the bottom of the third, Gonzalez hit a big shot into left field. Gonzalez was able to score off of an Isaac Liberman RBI. The score was tied at the end of the third inning 2-2.
In the fifth inning, Santa Monica was making the right plays and letting the game come to them. In the bottom of the fifth,Camp hit a single into right field for the Vikings. Post game he said, “I was able to string together some good at bats. I want to be able to contribute anyway I can.” In the sixth inning, Royal was able to score a run of a suicide squeeze. Hewitt laid down a bunt and the Highlanders were able to score a run. In the bottom of the sixth, a clutch hit from Blue Hunter tied the game at 3-3. In the seventh inning, Camp made a high flying catch to end the top of the seventh. “He said his goal for the season is 'To be consistent defensively.'”
This game went into extra innings. In the eighth inning, Isaiah Tillman of Royal, hit a shot into center field to bring home two runs for Royal. In the bottom of the eighth, Santa Monica did not generate any runs as Hewitt closed out the game.
