What the La Salle baseball team has done since losing its season opening game to Northview, 5-0, has been eye-opening, even for Lancers coach Andy Nieto.
La Salle has won six straight, pummeling its last four opponents by a combined score of 49-2, and that inlcudes Tuesday’s rout on the road at Bishop Amat, where it came away with an 11-1 victory.
Bishop Amat beat La Salle two out of three last season on it way to winning the Del Rey League title, and Amat (5-2, 3-1) was off to a good start this season before being stopped in its tracks by a hot-swinging La Salle team that is suddenly 6-1 and 3-0 in league play.
“Of course it was unexpected, nobody expects to be that offensive early in the year,” Nieto said of the Lancers’ run production. “I expected this team to be able to play for a championship because of age and experience. We have a few four-year varsity players and our pitching depth is great too. We actually have a staff and not just guys who pitch.
“If you were at the Amat game, simple math tells you they’ve gotten us more than we’ve gotten them (over the years). How many close battles have we had with them and lost? That game was not really just for our guys, but previous guys who have been part of those tough battles that came up short.”
La Salle’s senior catcher Chris Cardenas, a UC Riverside commit, led the charge going 4-fo-4 with a triple and four RBIs in its win over Amat.
“He’s our best player,” Nieto said of Cardenas. “He’s one of the best players in Southern California. He could start for anybody. It’s all about staying healthy.”
It wasn’t just Cardenas in Tuesday’s win, Andrew Klein was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Isaiah Romero had two hits and scored a run.
Senior pitcher Nico Armendariz was outstanding as well in the five-inning mercy shortened win, allowing four hits with four strikeouts.
Cardenas is a four-year starter, and so is Travis Ochoa. Others like Drew Ward have multiple years on varsity, so Nieto is not surprised with their early success. They also start three freshman, Daniel Ruiz, Gabriel Arias and Miguel Romero, who have all contributed to their success.
Ruiz leads the team in RBIs with 13, and the Lancers have a team ERA of 1.47. Junior pitcher David Eriksson has 11 strikeouts in 12 innings with a team-best 0.56 ERA.
“I’ve always said, there is no substitute for age and experience,” Nieto said. “We expect these guys to compete every day. We have been opportunistic too, capitalizing on some things to extend innings. But I sort of expected this. I’ve been on a lot of good teams and this one is fun to watch with the culture we’ve created. They have a never-say-die feel to them. They keep grinding and they stay in the fight. It’s kind of nice to see them start to enjoy some of the fruits of their labor.”
La Salle hosts St. Paul (4-3, 1-1) on Friday at Arcadia Country Park at 3:15 p.m.
As well as the Lancers are playing, Nieto said it’s time to forget about what they’ve done so far.
“I tell our guys, this is why God puts eyes in front of our head and not behind our head,” Nieto said. “We’re going to continue to look forward and not behind.”