West Valley 8-6 over Santa Ana in the Day 1 Afternoon game
West Valley starts off hot and manages to hold on for a 8-6 victory in game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Santa Ana
|
0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 1 |
|
West Valley
|
4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 | 13 | 2 |
WALNUT – The West Valley College Vikings grabbed the early lead and managed to hold off several Santa Ana College flurries en route to an 8-6 win in Game 1 of the 3C2A Baseball State Championships on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.
With the win, the Vikings (38-12) will advance to Sunday's 2 p.m. Championship Semifinal matchup against the winner of Game 2, featuring Saddleback and San Joaquin Delta. With the loss, the Dons (35-14-1) will take on the loser of the Bobcats/Mustangs matchup in an elimination game on Sunday, beginning at 10 a.m.
Alan Ramirez went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Vikings, while Jayce Dobie went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI. At the top of the order, James Bose went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Ryan Lordier added two hits and two runs scored.
The Dons outhit the Vikings, 15-13 in the game, but the lack of key hits doomed the defending champs, who left 16 runners on base. Jake Long went 4-for-5 with an RBI, while Kian Sanchez went 3-for-5 with a run and two RBI.
WVC jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first and knocked out SAC starter Jaxton Andeel in the opening frame. Karter Wong lined a single to right to bring in the first run of the game and after a run-scoring grounder by Logan Stelling made it 2-0, Andeel lost the strike zone and walked three straight batters and added a run-scoring wild pitch to make it 4-0.
The Dons' bullpen did a valiant job of keeping their team in the game, holding the Vikings to just four runs the rest of the way, but West Valley build its lead up to 8-2 after six innings of play.
In their three-run fourth inning, the Vikings cashed in their runs courtesy of an RBI-double off the bat of Ramirez and a two-run double by Dobie.
Santa Ana crept back into the game with a run in the seventh, two runs in the eighth and a run in the ninth, but also left six runners stranded over those final three frames to cut the comeback short.
Will Pires closed the game out with 1 1/3 innings of work to pick up his third save of the season. Lincoln Juarez earned the win out of the bullpen, allowing a run on four hits.
(Tony Altobelli, CCSIA)
