Kaboom!

Saddleback opened the season with a 7-5 victory over College of the Canyons on Friday in Santa Clarita.  Sophomore J.C. Allen had a historic day, hitting three home runs in the opener.

Saddleback had a number of new faces on the field to start the 2024 campaign, but it was one of the familiar veterans that carried the team in the opener.  Allen finished 3-for-4 with six RBI, reaching base four times on the afternoon. 

Saddleback scored first when Makani Tanaka singled home Andrew Nykoluk in the third inning for a 1-0 lead.  Canyons quickly answered with a home run in the bottom half of the third inning to tie the game at 1-1.

The game went to the fifth inning tied when Allen started to get involved.  He blasted a two-run homer with Tanaka on base to give the Bobcats a 3-1 advantage. 

Canyons again answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning to tie the game at 3-3 before Allen connected for a second time in the top half of the seventh with Tanaka on base for a 5-3 advantage.

Canyons was resilient, evening the score in the bottom half of the seventh inning with a two-run shot of their own.  Allen wasn't content, blasting his third home run of the game in the top half of the ninth inning to give the Bobcats a 7-5 lead.

As if his offensive heroics weren't enough, Allen then made a defensive gem in the bottom half of the ninth inning on a ball hit foul down the left field line.  Allen slid and caught a ball for the first out of the inning after Canyons had put the first two batters on base.

Saddleback finally shut the door when Zachary Allegro got Jake Schwartz to ground out to second base to preserve the win. 

Tyler Byrns started on the mound and went five innings before giving way to the bullpen.  Allegro pitched the final two innings in picking up his first win of the season.  

Saddleback will host Canyons on Saturday at 1:00 PM in game two of the season.

GAME NOTE:  The Saddleback sports information office is working dilligently to uncover the last time a player had three home runs in a game.  We will update when we have an answer.