CLAYTON RABIEJ PITCHES NO-HIT GEM AS MARAUDER BASEBALL TEAM SPLITS WITH IMPERIAL VALLEY

Photo by Bruce Jacobsen

LANCASTER - Marauder pitcher Clayton Rabiej pitched seven innings of no-hit ball as the AVC baseball team earned its first victory of the season with a 1-0 victory over Imperial Valley College in the second game of a double header.

The teams agreed to play two seven inning games on the afternoon. Imperial Valley scored a 3-2 win in 10 innings in the opener.

Rabiej and the Marauders bounced back in the second game and the sophomore right-hander was stunning on the mound keeping Imperial Valley hitters off balance the entire afternoon as he struck out eight.

A controversial call which was scored an error kept the no hitter in tact for Rabiej (1-1). He walked only one batter.

"I wasn't really thinking about it, but it does feel good now that I officially know," Rabiej said. "I felt really confident out there today. I trusted my stuff. Having that defense behind me, I was able to take more chances. It feels good to get the first win of the season. I told my team that the first one is always the hardest.I hope this win will lead us in the right direction."

The only run of the game came from an RBI double by the Marauders Timothy Dodd, which scored Aaron Hart in the bottom of the third inning. Rabiej, who added a hit during the game at the plate, faced 24 Imperial Valley batters, retiring 20 of those.

Imperial Valley's Steven Panela was nearly as equally as impressive on the mound. He gave up only six hits while allowing only one run.

Dodd and Aron Avila had two hit apiece for the Marauders.