Culver City baseball tries to hold on to first place

The Culver City baseball team is currently locked into a three way tie for first place with El Segundo and Santa Monica in the Ocean League. As of last Monday all three teams were 2-0 but games being played this week will help separate the elite teams in the league.

The 10-7 Centaurs will battle 8-12 El Segundo this week starting with the game played Tuesday at El Segundo. They return home to face the Eagles on Thursday (today) at 3:15 p.m. and according to Culver City head coach Rick Prieto, their No. 1 pitcher and one of the hardest throwing pitchers in the nation, Nolan Martinez, will be on the mound.

It does not get any easier for the Centaurs next week because they travel to Santa Monica to face the Vikings on Tuesday, April 26 and they play them at home on Thursday, April 28 at 3:15 p.m. and Martinez will be on the mound again.

The month of April has been good to the Centaurs. Their bats have come alive and their pitching has continued to be outstanding. In their first four games this month they have scored 25 runs while allowing only five.

Senior Michael Netzel is leading the Centaur hitter. The 6’0 180 pound player is batting .500. Another senior, Kevin Murillo is batting .404, senior Mason Mulvihill is hitting .333 and senior Jacob Weiner is batting .308.

“What better way to open up Ocean league play,” said Prieto last week after beating Lawndale 10-1 and 3-1. “It was a great week for Culver City baseball but you can’t take any team lightly in this league. All of the teams are competitive and I am glad we are scoring more runs because you never know what’s going to happen. A game can change on one pitch.”

Netzel is also happy about the recent run production. “It’s great to able to score runs. I am seeing the ball better this year and our pitching has been really good. We just want to continue to get better.”