From LBPOSTSports.com: Poly baseball coach Toby Hess said early this season there was only one way his young Jackrabbits would make the playoffs.
“If Mario Gordon pitches well, we will definitely be in the postseason, and if he doesn’t, we won’t,” Hess said.
Despite a roster full of underclassmen, the weight of a school’s success on his shoulders, and a record that is not indicative of his dominance, Gordon has delivered a CIF spot for Poly.
The Jackrabbits (13-15, 6-4) could finish as high as second place in the Moore League, but to do so, would need a victory (and season-sweep) over Lakewood tonight at 6:30 at Blair Field.
Gordon is 3-5 with a 2.81 ERA, has three saves and four complete games, but he could just as easily be 6-2 with some added run support.
He’s also struck out 40 batters in 47 innings, and has a better than 2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Gordon is hitting .276 with 21 hits and 10 RBI’s, but he knows his value in on the mound.
“I live for getting the ball in big games, and I hate to lose,” Gordon said. “I knew coming into the season that we had a lot of younger players that needed some time to get used to varsity pitching, and we’ve struggled. But we have a chance of finishing second and that would be an incredible accomplishment after the way we started.”
Click here for the full story by Brian Baiotto…