The protest filed by the Westmont  baseball team in Saturday’s first game of a doubleheader at Vanguard  has been upheld by the Golden State Athletic Conference protest committee.

The game will be resumed on Wednesday, April 27, beginning at 2:30 p.m. The game will resume from the point of protest in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out and Tommy Rodriguez on base.

The winner of the game will be Co-GSAC regularseason champion with Hope International.

The Warriors fell 8-0 and 5-4 in a doubleheader on Saturday, dropping to 23-9 in the GSAC and falling from first to third place. But the outcome of the first game is not certain as Westmont filed a protest over a decision that resulted in Vanguard scoring its first run.

With one away and the bases empty, Vanguard’s Tommy Rodriguez hit a fair ball down the right field line that angled toward the right field corner. The Lions’ bullpen is at the end of the right field fence, but between the right field fence and the outfield fence is a gap of about five feet. The ground rule, as explained before the start of the game, is that if a fair ball crosses the plane extending from the right field fence to the outfield fence, the ball is out of play and a dead ball.

Westmont’s Thomas Rudinsky was playing in right field and raised his hands, signaling to the umpires that the ball cross the plane. Both umpires also raised their hands, indicating a dead ball. Rodriguez continued running all the way to home plate.

The umpires conferred after the play and ruled that, in their judgement, the ball had not crossed the plane of the right field fence and awarded Rodriguez an inside-the-park home run. 

Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz objected, contending that since both umpires had raised their hands to indicate a dead ball and timeout, the runner should not have been allowed to advance. When the umpires did not agree, Ruiz informed them that he was playing the remainder of the game under protest.

Vanguard (24-9) would go on to produce seven more runs and win the protested game by a score of 8-0. If the protest is upheld, however, all plays after the point of protest would be nullified and the game would be replayed from the point of the protest with no score, one away in the bottom of the fourth and Rodriguez on base.

A three-person protest committee reviewed Westmont’s official protest, the umpires’ report, photos and video to determine whether or not to grant Westmont’s petition. If they do so, Westmont will return to Vanguard to complete the game. If they do not uphold the protest, the results of the game will stand.

At stake is a share of the GSAC Regular Season Championship. If the previous results stand, Vanguard and Hope International will be co-champions. If, however, the game is replayed and Westmont wins, the Warriors will be co-champions with Hope.

All of this also effects the upcoming GSAC Tournament. As it currently stands, Vanguard is the number one seeded in the six-team, double-elimination tournament with Hope seeded second and Westmont third. If the protest is denied, or if the protest is upheld and Vanguard wins the replayed game, the seeding will remain the same. If, however, the Warriors win the replayed game, Hope International will be the top-seeded team, Westmont will move up to the number two seed and Vanguard will become the number three seed. 

Westmont had a chance to claim a co-championship in the second game on Saturday and came within one out of doing so. Down 2-0 in the top of the fifth of the seven inning game, Josh Rego came up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs. Rego delivered a bases-clearing double to center field, putting the Warriors on top 3-2.

The Lions responded in the bottom half of the fifth with a single run, tying the score at three, and threatened to score again in the bottom of the sixth. With bases loaded and two outs, Westmont’s Carlos Moreno induced Matthew Land to pop up a ball in foul territory down the left field line. Brady Renck, playing at shortstop for the Warriors, made a sliding catch on the ball to retire Land and end the Lions’ threat.

In the top of the seventh, Rego came up to bat with two outs and blasted a shot over the left-center field fence, giving the Warriors a 4-3 advantage in the final inning. However, the Lions answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to claim the win.

Regardless of the decision of the GSAC Protest Committee regarding game one, the GSAC Tournament will be held May 2-5 at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine.