The Chabot Gladiators destroyed the Los Medanos Mustangs on Feb. 15 at home by a score of 8-2.
The Chabot College baseball team came out hot with a total of four runs in the first three innings as Los Medanos quickly fell behind. Fernando Sansone scored in the bottom of the second as Jonathan Gazdar hit a double. Gazdar would go on to score later that inning. At the bottom of the second, Matt Sugden homered at the bottom of the third to send himself and Fred Ramos home, making the score 4-0.
The Gladiators were in a back and forth competition in innings 5 and 6 with the Mustangs. The Mustangs would have two runs in the two innings while the Gladiators attempted to match them with one run of their own made by Quinn Ayres with a grounder by Brian Duroff.
The flood gates opened in the bottom of the eighth, where Chabot would score three unanswered runs to send Los Medanos packing. Fernando Sansone scored, and Jonathan Gazdar scored again on an error. Finally, JT Noble also scored on the same error.
During the game, I interviewed Dan Miller: head athletic trainer at Chabot, serving Chabot since 1991.
Miller stated that. “I think the coaching staff has done a great job with the new team, and I really think they’ve gelled well.”
After not playing last year and with a fresh new roster, the coaching staff had challenges coming into this season. The Gladiators dropped their first two games of the season in January with close scores of 5-3 and 8-7. Then they went on a three-game winning streak from Feb. 1 through Feb. 5, including a shutout of Laney College. They then went 10 innings with Marin in the ninth, ending with a loss. The team, unfortunately, got obliterated by the Fresno City Rams 10-4 on Feb. 11.
The team moved into Steve Friend Stadium this season here at Chabot. It’s been a project that Chabot has been really excited about, calling it “one of the top facilities in the state” on the Chabot College Instagram.
I asked Miller what he thought about the new park. He responded with, “I love it, it’s something that we’re really proud of, and there’s a lot of cool stuff we have going on here.”
The new ballpark features batting cages, new bleachers with seats, great audio systems, and a whole new fresh looking field. Miller added, “My favorite part of the new park is the dugout. They’re very clean and modern.”
Chabot is now 4-4 in the season with a winning record in their inaugural season at Steve Friend stadium but is 2-3 on the road. Their next game is Thursday, Feb. 17, at Diablo Valley vs the Vikings.