Bobcats rally past Long Beach City

The Saddleback baseball team won its second game in as many days on Saturday with a 12-8 victory over Long Beach City College at Doug Fritz Field.  The Bobcats rallied for eight straight runs in the win.

Saddleback hasn't faced a ton of adversity so far in 2022.  The Bobcats got a rare dose of it on Saturday and responded in a big way.

Saddleback trailed 8-4 heading into the bottom half of the sixth inning after surrendering four runs in the top half of the inning.  The Bobcats wasted no time in responding, scoring five times in the bottom half of the inning to take a lead they would never relinquish. Amazingly, they did it all with two outs in the inning after the first two batters of the inning were retired.  Saddleback had seven straight batters reach base, with five claiming hits and another two being hit by pitches.  The go-ahead run came when Tyler DeClusin had a pinch hit single and Lance Gardiner came around to score when the shortstop for the Vikings misplayed the ball. 

Saddleback tacked on three more runs in the bottom half of the seventh inning to take a 12-8 lead.  The big blow came when Cole Koniarsky (pictured) blasted a two-run homer to left field.  It was Koniarsky's first home run of the season and the sixth home run of the season for the team.

Saddleback is now 8-1 to start the season.  The Bobcats will be away from home this coming week when they travel to Southwestern College on Tuesday with a double-dip at Cuesta College on Thursday and Friday.