Legends Dominate Opening Game
The Menlo Park Legends could not stop scoring runs in their home opening game as the team dominated 24-2 against the San Mateo Rounders at Cañada College, making it their first win of the season.
The Legends’ offense came alive in the bottom of the 2nd as they hit three home runs, leaving the inning with the score 11-0 in their favor.
“It was nice to see our bats coming out hot and our pitchers did a good job competing,” general manager David Klein said. “Overall there was good energy and great support from the fan base.”
The solid pitching performance also matched the team’s offense. The Legends had strong pitching depth, resulting in the Rounders’ inability to have any major hits. Right-handed pitcher Sean Thompson (Texas Tech) was the Legends’ starting pitcher for opening game. Thompson started off the game giving up four hits to the Rounders. The Legends were able to get two outs before Thompson wrapped up the first inning with a strike out.
“I didn’t pitch a whole lot in my regular season so I was excited to get back out there,” Thompson said.
Thompson’s Texas Tech teammate, left-handed pitcher Jackson Lancaster replaced Thompson in the 3rd followed by right-handed pitcher Max Ritchie (Brown) in the 5th. Pitcher Nick Gagnon (University of North Dakota) came in the 8th to finish the game. Legends pitchers had great command of the strike zone, keeping the hitters off balance. Overall, the pitchers rung up 12 batters.
First baseman John Montgomery (Eastern Michigan University) gave a strong performance. Montgomery hit a home run to right in the 2nd inning, opening the floodgates for more runs.
Outfielder Tommy Bell (New Mexico State) was the Legends’ offensive star after he hit 3 run homer in the 2nd inning and capped his performance with a grand slam in the 5th. Bell drove in 7 RBIs in the game.
“I was just seeing the ball today and putting a good swing on it,” Bell said. “Today was my day; it felt good to play.”
Bell joined the Legends after winning his second Junior College State Championship with the Orange Coast Community College baseball team.
“He is coming out hot and ready to go,” Klein said. “His timing was there and clearly he put some good swings on the ball.”
The San Mateo Rounders’ defense was unable to play up to the Legends’ impressive offense. With the constant runs scored, the Rounders were forced to switch pitchers five times. Every player on the Legends scored at least two runs in the game.
With such an impressive overall performance, General Manager David Klein still feels that there is more room to improve. Klein wants to work on scoring from third base, with less than two outs. He believes that is key to winning more ball games.
“If we [the Legends] compete like we did today, then we can beat anyone in the state,” Klein said.
It is only the beginning for the Menlo Park Legends as they play their next home game against the Walnut Creek Crawdads, June 10.
Photos by Quynh-Chi Ho
