All’s well that ends well

The Saddleback baseball team advanced to the second round of the 3C2A Southern California Regional Playoffs on Saturday with a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth inning against rival Orange Coast College.  The 7-6 triumph puts the Bobcats into the Super Regional Tournament at Los Angeles Valley College. 

Saddleback took a circuitous route to the win, but as William Shakespear once wrote, "All's well that ends well."  The Bobcats received a bases-loaded single from Rodrigo Barajas in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 7-6 victory as the team and fans erupted with both a sense of joy and a sense of relief. 

Orange Coast pushed Saddleback to the limit, forcing a game three in the series when they overcame an early 4-0 deficit and clipped the Bobcats in the bottom of the 10^th inning, 9-8. 

Game three had a similar feel as Saddleback had a 4-1 lead heading to the sixth inning when OCC again made things tight for the Saddleback faithful.  The Pirates scored a run in the sixth inning and four more runs in the seventh in taking a 6-4 lead.  With the offense seemingly stuck in neutral, the Bobcats were looking for an answer.  Saddleback finally found some offense in the bottom half of the seventh inning when they tied together four hits, three of which came with two outs in the inning.  Makani Tanaka started the rally with a one-out bloop single down the left field line.  With two outs in the inning the Bobcats had three straight hits from Jacob Beauchaine, Rodrigo Barajas and Jacob Hudson to score a pair of runs and tie the game at 6-6.

Meanwhile, Saddleback was on its ninth pitcher of the day and third of the game in Jake Porter, who was called upon to give the Bobcats some timely relief.  After a rocky start in the seventh inning, Porter (3-1) settled down and shut down the Pirates over the next two innings to give Saddleback a chance in the bottom of the ninth inning.  He retired the Pirates in order in the eighth inning and then got out of a jam in the ninth inning when OCC put runners at first and second with two outs in the inning.  A sharp grounder to Hudson at first base ended the threat as Hudson easily handled the pressure-packed grounder and stepped on the bag.

Saddleback started the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk to Tanaka, who then stole second base and was advanced to third on a wild pitch.  The Pirates then walked J.C. Allen, who proceeded to steal second base without a throw.  Jacob Beauchaine then came to the plate and hit a bloop between the pitcher and shortstop that had eyes, but forced the runners to hold and loaded the bases.  With no outs and the bases juiced, Orange Coast then brought one of the outfielders into the infield to give them a better shot at a potential double-play.  It didn't work as Barajas lined a shot into right field and the bench erupted out of the dugout. 

Barajas had a big game at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBI.  Beauchaine reached base four times, going 2-for-3 with two walks and a pair of RBI. 

Saddleback improved to 26-16 with the win.  The Bobcats will now travel to Los Angeles Valley College for a three-team Super Regional with Los Angeles Valley College and Fullerton College.  The Bobcats will open the regional on Thursday against Fullerton.  The game time has yet to be determined.