Name : Athen Malone
School : Charter Oak
Sport : Baseball
Grade : Junior
Position : Pitcher & First Base
Photos by Gwen Pointer
Boys Athlete of the Week:
There isn’t a more unsettling feeling for a baseball player than falling behind early in a CIF-SS playoff game.
It’s that knowledge that one’s season and in many cases a career is rapidly running out of oxygen that makes it so unpleasant.
But don’t tell that to Charter Oak junior Athen Malone.
Malone took the mound in Friday’s D-2 first round game at Woodbridge trailing 4-1 and with runners on.
Malone completely flipped the script on the Warriors, going five scoreless in an 11-5 victory in Irvine.
He allowed just two hits, didn’t walk a batter and fanned six Woodbridge batters.
And he wasn’t done just yet.
At the plate, Malone went 3-for-4, with a double, two-run home run and three RBIs.
Up next: The Chargers host South Hills on Tuesday.
The Huskies (21-6) got a lights-out performance from Sterling Patick, who tossed a one-hit shutout and struck out nine.
COHS and SHHS are just a few years removed from being league rivals, so the atmosphere on Tuesday should be electric.