Isaiah Leach hit a three-run walk-off home run to give Westmont a 6-4 victory baseball win over the Thunderbirds of British Columbia (0-3) on Thursday at Russ Carr Field.
With the Warriors down 6-4, shortstop Taylor Bush led off the bottom of the ninth with a double down the left field line. Third baseman Luke Coffey then hit a double to the right field corner. Bush, holding at second to see if Thunderbird right fielder Lucas Soper would make the catch, was able to advance to third.
After Paul Mezurashi pinch ran for Coffey at second, Leach stepped to the plate. The junior right fielder had gone hitless in four at bats and had struck out three times. He jumped on the first pitch he saw and drove it over the fence for the win.
“All the years I have been playing baseball I have never had a walk-off,” said Leach. “T-Bush and Luke had two great at bats right before me. I knew it was a big spot. I had been struggling all day and hadn’t been seeing the ball very well, but I knew that my teammates had my back. I knew that my coaches believe in me, my teammates believe in me and I believe in me, too.
“The pitch was a fast ball that caught over a little bit of the middle of the plate,” he continued. “I was able to put a good swing on it. We have a little bit of a power alley to right field, so I was able to put in up in the jet stream and let it go.”