Bobcats open valley trip with a win

The Saddleback baseball team opened up its annual trip to the Central Valley with a 7-4 victory over College of the Sequoias on Tuesday in Visalia.  Starting pitcher Connor Wilford picked up his seventh win of the season as the Bobcats picked up win No. 25.

Saddleback hasn't taken its annual trip to the middle part of the state in three years due to COVID-19, so it was nice to get the fellas on the road and show the people of Northern California one of the best teams from the south.

Saddleback trailed 1-0 heading into the top half of the third inning when the offense showed up.  The Bobcats sent seven batters to the plate, with the first four reaching base.  Saddleback broke a 1-1 tie when Zachary Schwartzberg singled home Jordan Dissin and Michael Davinni for a lead they would never relinquish.

Wilford (pictured) started on the mound and pitched through the seventh inning before leaving with a 5-3 lead.  The righty from San Clemente High School struck out four while walking one in improving to 7-2 on the season. 

Saddleback took a 5-4 lead into the top half of the ninth inning when they scored a pair of insurance runs to slow up the heartbeat.  Davinni walked to start the inning and moved over to second base on a single from Luc Stuka.  Johnathan Behm then reached on a fielder's choice, with all of the runners being safe on the play.  Schwartzberg then got Davinni home on a fielder's choice before Lance Gardiner drove home Stuka with a double for a 7-4 lead. 

Saddleback turned the ball over to Arthur Liu in the ninth inning to close out the game.  Liu struck out two of the four batters he faced in picking up his seventh save of the season.

Saddleback is now 25-8 overall for the year.  The Bobcats and Giants will play again on Wednesday.  The first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM.