LeBaron’s arm, bat power Arbor View

After he was hired as Arbor View’s baseball coach two years ago, Chris Martinez immediately noticed something special about Tyler LeBaron.

“He stuck out as a kid who will do anything to help the team win,” Martinez said.

That quality was on display Friday.

LeBaron pitched four solid innings to earn the win and went 2-for-2 with a double, three runs and two RBIs to lead the host Aggies to a 12-1 victory over Shadow Ridge in five innings.

Arbor View (10-2, 4-1 Northwest League) sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs in the first inning and cruised the rest of the way.

“When we come out strong as a team, we can get the job done,” LeBaron said. “This is the best group of guys I’ve been around. We work hard, and we want to be in the playoffs and compete for state.”

LeBaron (3-0) was not a regular in Arbor View’s rotation last season, but the junior right-hander has looked the part so far. On Friday, he gave up one run on three hits, one walk and one hit batter and had five strikeouts.

“He’d never really pitched in high school” before this season, Martinez said. “But he’s a competitor, he’s a great kid, he’s listening, and he’s giving us a chance to win. That’s all you can ask for.”

The Aggies also stayed hot offensively. Seven of Arbor View’s 11 hits were doubles, including two from Evan McMahan, who was 2-for-2 and scored twice.

Arbor View’s Cody Lacy went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, and Zachary Quintana hit an RBI double and pitched a scoreless fifth inning.

Arbor View went 3-0 on the week, scoring 41 runs in those games.

“The kids set a goal before the game to sweep this week,” Martinez said. “They did a good job, absolutely. Every time I look at the lineup, I see a sophomore or a junior. The sky’s the limit.

“Right now we have a way to go to reach our long-term goals, but if the kids keep playing hard and doing what they’ve been doing, you feel good about what we’ve seen so far.”

Michael Wager doubled home Brandon Show in the first for Shadow Ridge (8-5, 2-3), which is striving for the program’s first playoff berth this season.