varsity baseball team is off to its best start in school history. The winning continued on Saturday for the Sharks (7-0) with a double-header sweep of Channel Islands at home.
Malibu won the first game 7-1 behind the pitching of senior Matt Gruskin (2-0), who tossed a complete game on 78 pitches, striking out six and only giving up five hits.
Senior Mark Stevenson hit his first home run of the year, which was a towering two-run shot to left field that gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead. And they never looked back. Junior Frank Thomas and Senior Hunter Johnson each had two hits and two RBIs. Senior Jordan Simon added two hits.
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The Sharks offense exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the first inning of the second game as they went to win 9-3. Simon, Johnson and Thomas kept up their torrid offensive pace. Senior Evan Anthony, junior Riley Mcmillin and sophomore Chase Lambert had two hits apiece.
Senior Harry McAlevey (3-0) pitched four good innings and sophomore Noah Simon tossed the final three to complete the victory.
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Simon, who will play next season at North Carolina State, is batting .567 this season. Johnson (.545) and Thomas (.500) also have impressive batting averages.
The junior varsity team played Channel Islands on Saturday. The Sharks (4-0) won behind the pitching of Sam Yang and the hitting of Andre Simoneau.
Both Sharks squads will play their final non-conference games Thursday on the road against Windward School in West Los Angeles. Tri-League Valley play will begin March 21 at Oaks Christian.
Ari Jacobs is the head coach of the Malibu High varsity baseball team.
