PAYBACK TIME

By Brandon Petersen

The Westcliff baseball team's Friday night 8-7, 10-inning walk-off win over BenU at the Great Park had to feel especially good for guys like Micah Wallette, Kolby Wagatsuma, Miguel Espana and Ian Avalos, the latter of whom provided the game-winning single.

All four were in the Arizona desert last season when the then home team, Benedictine-Mesa, eliminated the Warriors from the Cal Pac playoffs.

All four took part in a little piece of payback Friday.

Wagatsuma was particularly aggrieved apparently, because he showed out in the frigid night air of the Great Park, raking four to finish 4-for-5 with a double.

Miguel Espana went 2-for-4 with a run batted in and another scored, and Wallette was 1-for-3 with a free pass and a run scored.

Jack Varney, meanwhile, remained on his torrid homerun pace, parking his third of the season to get the Dubs off the schneide after the Redhawks took an early 2-0 lead.

Justin Guzman got the start for the Warriors and was once again very effective, finishing six full of two-run ball with six strikeouts (four looking).

Guzman scattered five hits and walked four, but just one came around to score.

Avalos (2-for-5) scored Espana on a sac fly in the home half of the sixth and Christian Bartholomew scored Zane Parmenter (2-for-4) with a single up the middle as the Warriors played add-on.

The Dubs tacked on two more in the eighth after Parmenter hit a one-out, oppo triple to right and scored on a Joseph Guttmann single to left, then Guttmann came around after Avalos singled and was caught in a run-down.

Tyler Linnel took over for Guzman and pitched the seventh and eighth, allowing just a lone knock while mowing down four.

The Warriors sent two to the hill to try to close out the ninth, but BenU refused to go quietly, tying it at seven apiece with five runs on four hits.

Westcliff won it in the 10^th when Nick Malvini led off with a walk and then Alex Hall picked up a pinch-hit pass to move Malvini into scoring position.

Guttmann then loaded them up with a single and Malvini won it when he touched home after Avalos hit the game-winner.

The Warriors (5-1) and Redhawks return to Orange Coast College Saturday for a double-dip that starts at 11 a.m.

DIAMOND NOTES

• The Warriors' stacked lineup clutched up once again, going 9-for-21 (.429) with runners on and 7-for-17 (.412) with runners in scoring position.

• With runners on and less than two outs, the Warriors were 4-for-6 (.667).

• The Dubs led off four of 10 innings with hits.

• Westcliff picked up three hits with two outs.

• The Warriors have 32 base hits in their last two games, and 50 in their last four.