By Mitch Vareldzis

Tempe’s early run scoring and good pitching from Zach Mitchell gave the Buffaloes a win Wednesday on Senior Night.

It was a team effort in their 7-4 victory over the Scottsdale Christian Eagles (5-15-3 overall), as every player in the Buffaloes (8-13-1 overall) starting lineup contributed in some form.

The most notable performances came from first baseman Joey Matus, who doubled, tripled, scored a run and drove one in, and second baseman Ezra Johnson, who recently returned from an injury, had an RBI triple, a single and scored twice.

“It feels great,” Matus said. “We played hard as a team. With hits and great defense, we pulled out the win.”

Tempe struck early and it carried through the rest of the game.

In the first inning, left fielder Rui Fusato and Johnson hit back-to-back triples with one out. Fusato scored on Johnson’s triple, and Johnson scored on third baseman Charlie Cano’s single to right.

In the fourth, Matus tripled with two outs and wound up scoring after shortstop Philip Valencia reached first on a throwing error by shortstop Walker Boyd. Valencia came in to score on a Daniel Muniz single two batters later. Pitcher Josh Perrino was then pulled and sent to center field, and Nathan Zittel came in and struck out Fusato for the last out.

In the fifth inning, Johnson led off with a single and Cano was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second. Mitchell singled to center to drive in Johnson. Catcher Brock Williams then singled in Cano and advanced to second on the play.

With Mitchell on third and Williams on second, Mitchell was able to score on a dropped pop fly hit by Matus. Zittel then retired the next three hitters.

The win did not come easy. Mitchell had shut out the Eagles lineup for the first five innings.

But in the sixth inning, five consecutive Eagles batters reached base, beginning with first baseman Sam Gallegos’ lead-off triple to center, before the first out. Gallegos scored on catcher Nick Mattingly’s single to left.

DH turned pitcher Zittel then doubled to center, putting runners on second and third. Scottsdale Christian loaded the bases when right fielder Robbie Witte walked.

Tanner Hoffman, who came in as a pinch hitter, then doubled home two more runs. Witte came around to score two batters later after a throwing error by Williams went past Matus on a strikeout throw.

Mitchell regained control and then retired the ninth batter in the inning for the third out. In the seventh inning, the Eagles put the tying run at the plate twice, but Mitchell induced a fielder’s choice from Witte and struck out Hoffman to end the game and secure the victory.

“It felt great to get this win,” Tempe coach Christopher Otto said. “I have been with these seniors since they were freshmen. We may have taken some tough losses, but (the players) still come to play baseball. They love baseball.”

Otto had not seen a win on Senior Night since he took over the program four years ago. Nine seniors took the field in their final game during an emotional outing for the team and families at Tempe High School.

Tempe will go to Maricopa and take on the Rams (12-12 overall) next on Friday at 6 p.m. Scottsdale Christian will return home and face the Combs Coyotes (14-11 overall) on Friday at 3:45 p.m. 

Mitch Vareldzis is a sports journalism student at Arizona State. He is covering Tempe high schools this semester.