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Maranatha Minutemen Making Major Moves
Pasadena Independent Apr 25, 2018
–Courtesy Photo / Aaron Valdez, Beacon Media News
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–Courtesy Photo / Aaron Valdez, Beacon Media News
By Aaron Valdez
The Maranatha baseball team has proven it is a force to be reckoned with this season as the Minutemen are steadily on their way to winning the Olympic League title.
Head Coach Matt Shupper and his squad are firing on all cylinders, boasting an impressive 13-4 overall record and a 5-0 league record. So far, Maranatha has only lost to Charter Oak, Chino Hills, Monsignor Pace and Lake Norman but has picked up a few big wins over West Covina and out-of-state schools like Ridgewood and Brighton.
The Minutemen opened Olympic League play with an 8-0 victory over Whittier Christian. After defeating Whittier Christian once again in a two-way series, the team took a short break from league action to compete in their very own Minutemen Invitational earlier in the week.
Maranatha opened the tournament on the right foot, blanking Bosco Tech 6-0 behind a stellar performance from pitcher Will Downing. The junior ace tossed a complete seven innings while dealing nine strikeouts and held the Tigers to a mere two hits.
Max Blessinger, Marco Martinez, Charles Acker and Ben Guess did most of the heavy lifting on offense as the quartet accounted for all of the team’s hits, which was good for a combined four RBIs.
In the second game against Oxford Academy, the Minutemen once again ran the show, routing the Patriots 11-1 to improve their record to 2-0 in the invitational. Junior shortstop Nick Iverson was perfect at the plate as he went 3-3 with one RBI while Martinez went 3-4 with two RBIs to help propel Maranatha to its 13th win on the year.
By the time this article is published, Maranatha will have closed out the Minutemen Invitational with another fixture against Bosco Tech on Wednesday. The team will return to league play with a road game against Heritage Christian on Thursday.
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