Lindbergh baseball secures winning season with victory over Foster, 10-5

The Lindbergh Eagles ended its three-game losing streak with a 10-5 win over the Foster Bulldogs on April 26, which was also the Eagles’ senior day.

The win was the first time Lindbergh has scored more than a single run since April 12. “It’s always good when you’re producing runs. As long as we are staying in tune and staying in the game,” Head Coach Benny Benavides said.

Honoring the seniors is something that Coach Benavides said he holds very high. Many seniors haven’t played a full game all season, but those players got their opportunity to get out on the field.

“They want to play positions they haven’t played before. It gets them in a different mindset, and we’re out here having fun which is good,” Benavides said.

Even non-seniors enjoy seeing players getting experience when they haven’t during the season. “I love getting them out there and experiencing the game,” junior Kyle Burris said.

Lindbergh is currently third in the standings, behind Highline and Sammamish. The Eagles have just one game remaining this year but Highline is done for the regular season. So if the Eagles take down Renton they move into a tie with the Pirates.

After the game, Coach Benavides was honored with a plaque in honor of his 200 wins. “It is a cool thing. I finally realized that it is a milestone. I believe in why I am here, this is it for me I love it,” he said.

It was even special for the players to get their coach to that milestone. “I love that we got the win during the first game of the season, I’m happy for him to get it in his 23rd season,” Burris said.

Early on in the game against Foster, the Bulldogs struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning. But there was no panic for Lindbergh, said junior Kyle Burris. “At the end of the day, we just had to pull together… We just got loud and got our heads in the game,” Burris said.

In the bottom of the second, Lindbergh scored five in the inning. Francisco Resendiz and Gavin Brush scored on a Michael Reaves game-tying single. Treznar Warren was the go-ahead run for the Eagles scoring on a single from Kyle Rasmussen. The big bop of the inning came via Dominick Trushel increasing the Lindbergh lead to 5-2.

Foster tied the game in the top of the third scoring all three runs in the inning with two outs. The Bulldogs scored two of its three runs on RBI singles and one run came around on a passed ball.

Lindbergh answered right back with a run of its own. Lane Swenson tripled to lead off the inning and scored on a Resendiz single giving the Eagles a lead they wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the game. After three, Lindbergh led 6-5.

The Eagles continued their trend of scoring in the fourth as well. After loading the bases with no out, Lindbergh scored two on a two-out single from Resendiz giving Lindbergh an 8-5 lead.

Coming out of the bullpen junior Kyle Burris was excellent. Burris allowed just a single base runner who reached via a walk. In his four innings of work, he struck out 10 Bulldogs and threw 49 pitches, 38 for strikes (77%). Only two balls were put in play, and he struck out seven batters in a row at one stretch of the game.

Even though the competition wasn’t up there, Burris still went out to compete. “You never know who’s watching. You always go out there and put your best stuff out there,” he said.

“Oh he was great, lots of strikes. That’s all we needed (strikes) and he did a great job,” Coach Benavides said.

In the fifth, Diego Dumlao doubled to start the inning and scored on a wild pitch. Burris walked following the double and came around to score the final run of the game on an error by the Bulldog third baseman.

The Eagles’ biggest challenge this season has been games against Highline and Sammamish. One of those teams they will have to beat to advance in the playoffs. They have beaten Highline once and fell to Sammamish twice, but have played competitively in both games against the Redhawks.