BASEBALL COMES FROM BEHIND TO DEFEAT SAN JACINTO 11-10
Chaffey erased a 9-run deficit yesterday to defeat Mt San Jacinto 11-10. "I'm proud of the resilience our guys showed today," said Head Coach Smith. "We dug ourselves into a big hole early but we stayed relentless throughout."
The Panthers were behind 9-0 going into the 6th when Steven Mara reached first on an error allowing Ricky Mejia to cross the plate with two outs on the board. Up next, Zach Kim singled to right field bringing Bradley Chesterton in and taking the 6th inning score to 9-2.
In the 7th, the Panthers brought five runs in beginning with a three RBI double by Cole Howarth. Howarth then went on to score off a Chesterton sac fly. Nate Slaman was then able to grab home on a passed ball to close the gap to two runs.
In the 8th, a series of wild pitches, a walk and a single put Mejia and Jared Bujanda in position to score on a 3rd out opportunity to tie the game. The Eagles scored their first run in three innings in the bottom of the 8th to again take the lead 10-9. It would be their final run of the game.
With their final opportunity to snag the conference game, Emilio Garcia singled scoring both Adam Aguirre and Kim. "Emilio came up big for us today with the go-ahead two RBI single in the 9th" MSJC went scoreless in the bottom of the inning giving Chaffey the IEAC win (4-2 record).
Braden started off on the plate pitching the first four innings giving up 9 hits and 7 runs. Thomas Cerecedes, Eric Rohrer, Gabriel Alvarado, and Brandon Wedge came in from the bullpen before Logan Hunt closed out the final 1.1 earning his second collegiate win. "Hunt did a great door shutting the door today."
The Panthers are at it again tomorrow, taking on the Eagles again - this time on their home field. The teams will face off for their final game of the series Saturday at Claremont High School at 1pm.