The Chapman Panthers baseball team came out victorious in the first leg of a three-game series with an impressive 8-3 victory over East Texas Baptist University.
On the mound today for the Panthers was star pitcher Nick Garcia, who pitched six solid innings of baseball allowing zero earned runs in the process. Garcia improved to 2-0 on the year after striking out a spectacular twelve batters.
“I felt good out there today, all my stuff was working. My fastball had a little extra zing to it and my off-speed stuff was moving,” said Garcia, when asked about how he felt on the mound today. “When I get on the mound I just try and put my team in the best position to win the ball game. I know I’m the ace of the team, so it is my job to go out there and try to win every single one of my outings. I know if I do my job on the mound, my teammates will drive in those runs.”
Garcia, in fact, got all the help he needed in this ball game with the marvelous performance by left-fielder, Henry Zeisler. Zeisler had a break-out performance for the Panthers in this ball game going 2-4 on the day with two grand slams and eight RBI. Zeisler drove in all the runs for the Chapman Panthers baseball team in this game with back to back grand slams in the 4th and 5th inning.
I caught up with Zeisler after the ball game and he explained how this was probably the best game he has ever played in his life. “I have never felt better after a game in my whole baseball career. Those homers are just a testament to the long hours in the summer hitting pen and all the hitting drills my dad put me through as a youngster. I don’t think I have ever had a better game in my career, but I’m glad it happened today,” Zeisler explained after the victory. “I hope this gives me momentum into the next couple games and hopefully I can pull off another game like this in the next coming days.”
To go along with the stellar performances by Garcia and Zeisler, center fielder Brad Shimabuku, designated hitter Kevin Gregersen, and second baseman Aaron Wong, all chipped in with two hits apiece. Reliever Mitchell Briggs brought it home in the 9th with a one inning save.
Chapman improves to an impressive 5-0 record on the year. They will play again later today in the 2nd game of a double header and finish up the series on Saturday with their opponent, East Texas Baptist University.
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