The morning marine layer cleared out towards the east, allowing the summer sun to shine down upon the Cougar baseball complex in Azusa.
It was here, where the crack of bats, the pop of gloves, and the cheering of fans returned to the Inland Valley for the 2024 season opener of the California Premier Collegiate League.
The Inland Valley Pirates led by Charlie Reynoso squared off with Rick Vanderhook’s Inland Valley Bucs for the first game of the season.
The Bucs wasted no time in making noise as Jake Long drove in the teams’ leadoff hitter with a single up the middle. Jacob Klinovsky came up next and smoked a high fastball over the left field wall for a towering, two RBI opposite-field home run.
“I feel great it’s opening day and it felt like a dream to barrel the ball up and away and let the hands work,” said Klinovsky
The Pirates fought back immediately scoring a run in the bottom of the first on an errant throw by the Bucs catcher. In the second, Landon Greenhouse smacked a leadoff double before scoring on an RBI single from Adrian Diaz. Moses Medrano promptly drove Diaz in on an RBI single of his own to tie the contest.
The Pirates’ ability to claw back can be registered to the hard work put in by their hitters.
“It’s hours and hours of work every day, just hitting and making sure that the hours you put in translate when you get into the game,” said Greenhouse.
The Pirates took the lead in the fourth after stifling the Bucs in the top of the inning, then scoring five of their own in the bottom of the frame. The Pirates scored all five runs without getting a hit as Bucs pitching walked six batters and hit one.
While the Pirates started to rev their offense up, the Bucs struggled to capitalize on their first-inning momentum and failed to score in three consecutive innings.
The Bucs’ offensive moratorium finally ended in the fifth inning when the top of the lineup came up for a third time. Klinovsky once again launched a no-doubt home run, this time down the right-field line for his second two-RBI homer of the day.
Klinovsky saw the ball well all day and was very confident going up to the plate after his first at-bat.
“I was getting ready to hit a beach ball, just get on top of something, get behind it, and let the body work,” Klinovsky said.
The Bucs added two more runs in the inning to bring the game within one run.
The Pirates answered in the bottom half of the inning scoring six runs on a seemingly never-ending two-out rally — widening their lead to 14-7. The Pirates impressively put seven runners on and scored all six runs after the second out was made.
The Pirates added another two in the sixth, along with shutting down the Bucs offense again. The Bucs had big innings against pitchers Noe Novella and Andrew Nesson, but the Pirates hurlers were able to shut them down in subsequent innings.
The Pirates’ third pitcher of the game, Mason Smith was able to hold the Bucs scoreless across his first two innings.
Smith was able to stall a ninth-inning rally from the Bucs, but not before they tallied three runs to make the final score 16-10.
The Pirates are excited about the upcoming season after their offensive outburst in the season opener. “I’m pumped up and I like that the work doesn’t stop and I have to go harder and do it again,” Greenhouse said.
The Pirates’ next action is a double-header this Sunday against the Palm Springs Power at Cal Poly Pomona.
Inland Valley Baseball Association 