COSTA MESA, Calif. --In what turned out to be a perfect end to the regular season, the Warriors swept their doubleheader Thursday afternoon at Vanguard winning game 1 10-6 before clinching their second straight GSAC championship with a 10-9 win in game 2. 

First-year coach Trevor Paine said he was extremely proud of his guys for winning the regular season and persevering through some tough times earlier this year.

"All four games of this series I kept telling the guys that they've continued to amaze me," Paine said. "Our mental toughness and poise have been great recently and it certainly feels good to have that turn in to a regular season championship."

In game 1, both teams failed to score in the opening two frames, but Jessup (34-10 overall, 24-8 GSAC) got on the board first thanks to a double from Jordan Williams, and a fielding error by Vanguard that gave the Warriors a 2-0 lead. 

However, the Lions (31-20 overall, 17-15) immediately responded with a run of their own in the third and then exploded for a 5-run fourth inning giving them a 6-2 lead.

The Warriors found themselves in a familiar position down late in the ball game but just as they did a day ago, the Jessup bats came alive. 

The comeback got started when Will Law singled to bring in a run, then Noah Shackles got into the act as he brought in a run as well. Jessup then added another run on a sacrifice flyout from Kawaiola Takemura to get the lead down to 6-5.

Then in the ninth Law's single tied the game, Josh Duitsman's single brought in two more runs and then later scored the final insurance run.

Law finished the game with 3 hits, 2 RBIs, and 2 walks. Brett Wetland got his fourth win on the mound after pitching 4 1/3 innings allowing 3 hits, one walk and tallying three strikeouts.

In game 2, the Warriors found themselves in another tough game. After taking a 4-0 lead in the opening 2 innings, Vanguard answered with 3 runs in the 3rd.

With the score at 4-3 in the top of the 4th inning, the Warriors had another strong inning at the plate scoring 3 more runs thanks to a double from Green that scored two runs, and Law singled to bring in another run. 

However, Vanguard answered back in the 4th and 5th innings with 5 unanswered runs to take an 8-7 lead. But the rest of the game belonged to the Warriors as they scored two runs in the sixth thanks to another single from Austen Swift, then Cal Koga hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Anders Green.

Then in the seventh inning, Takemura hit the games only homer to give the Warriors a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Coach Paine said the team will have a chance to enjoy this accomplishment briefly before turning their focus to the conference tournament.

"We'll get guys some rest the next few days, and then get refocused on our next goal," Paine said. "We'll need a total team effort, good at-bats, and quality innings from our pitching staff, but I like our chances next week." 

The Warriors will be the top seed in the GSAC conference tournament that starts Monday. Game times and an opponent is still to be determined.