Heading into the series against the South Coast Conference leaders El Camino Warriors, the Mounties were in desperate need for a convincing sweep to have a shot in making the playoffs. Hosting the Warriors to start the series, the Mounties gave up a run early in the first inning and their work was cut out for them.

Sophomore first baseman Travis Hobbensiefken (22) evened out the score at one in the third inning, scoring in freshman outfielder Joey Rossetti (12). 

However, El Camino responded the next inning with four runs of their own. Freshman outfielder Blake Haggerty (23) came out crushing a two-run homerun in the fifth as the Mounties chipped back to get on top. Freshman outfielder Braydyn France (9) cut the Warriors lead to only one with an RBI fielder’s choice in the sixth as the Mounties were creeping up just in time.

Clutch outings from the bullpen were needed from freshman left-handed pitcher Hunter Holmes (29), right-hander Ray Northey (41) and sophomore right-hander Damian Torres (19) as they all executed allowing no runs and only two hits. After an RBI single in the ninth by France (9), Rossetti (12) hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring in France (9) as the Mounties walked it off to take the series opener.

The Mounties traveled to El Camino College for game two of the series and were looking for another big win. After five scoreless innings from both sides, the Warriors knocked in a two-run homerun in the sixth to open the door. The Mounties then answered the next inning with two runs of their own, including an RBI single from sophomore shortstop Elijah Pelayo (5) and an RBI double from France (9).

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Trent Merrill (30) came in to pitch for freshman right-hander Joey Peralta (8) who had an impressive outing holding the Warriors to only two runs in seven innings. Northey (41) came in the ninth and shut out the Warriors to take them into extra innings.

With a failure to put up any runs, the Mounties gave up an RBI walk off single in the tenth. Losing by a score of 2-3 and pretty much shutting down a shot for the Mounties to make the playoffs.

Following a tough road loss that evened the series, the Mounties were looking to find a win on sophomore night. Freshman first baseman Gibby Morales (34) hit a solo homerun in the second inning to make it a tied game at one.

Unfortunately, the Warriors came out swinging all game, scoring in the fifth and seventh innings, they added on three more runs to make it a 9-1 ballgame. Sophomore catcher CJ Ontiveros (11) hit a sacrifice fly to right field to make it a seven run deficit in the eighth. Rossetti (12) knocked in an RBI single to try and give the Mounties a slight chance of hope.

However, as the Mounties couldn’t get any closer and lost the game by the final score of 9-3, they dropped the series and essentially had their playoff hopes crushed. Finishing the season with a record of 19-21 and 10-14 in conference play, the Mounties ended their 2023 season.