MHS Baseball Wins Big In CIF Opener

Junior Tyler Ray hit for a cycle and the Malibu baseball team scored early and often in their 20-2 playoff win over Animo Leadership at the Windward School in Los Angeles on May 18. 

The 12-14 Sharks followed the blowout win over the Aztec Eagles with a second round CIF Southern Division VI playoff game against Polytechnic Panthers from Pasadena on Tuesday at Malibu High School. 

Ray went five-for-five at the plate against Animo Leadership, an Inglewood charter high school. He hit two singles, a double, a triple and a home run to achieve a cycle, a rarity in the sport. He also scored two runs and had six RBIs. 

Ray’s two-run homer in the first inning put Malibu up 4-0. The offensive explosion continued in the second inning where the Sharks tallied six more runs. In the next two innings Malibu scored two runs, then rang up eight runs in the sixth inning. 

Ray wasn’t the lone star at the plate for the Sharks. Senior Dylan Kretschmar had three hits, one RBI and one run for Malibu. Senior Trevor Simonian had two hits, three runs and two stolen bases. Freshman Alex Morrison had a triple, two RBIs and one run, and junior William Tamkin had one hit, three RBIs and one score. 

Malibu racked up 18 hits, 17 RBIs and five stolen bases in total. 

Tamkin, a pitcher, also had eight strikeouts in four innings and senior Justin Truschke and sophomore Tanner Rubin each had two strikeouts in their time on the mound.