Bobcats open playoffs with 14th straight win

The Saddleback baseball team opened the playoffs with a 9-1 win over Los Angeles Valley College on Friday at Doug Fritz Field.  The Bobcats trailed early before storming past the Monarchs.

Saddleback had ace Connor Wilford on the mound and after some early struggles Wilford settled into a rhythm and did his thing.  Wilford pitched through the seventh inning and left with a 9-1 lead while improving to 10-2 on the season.  Wilford was red hot through the middle innings after struggling through the first inning, giving up no hits from innings two through five.  At one point he struck out four straight Los Angeles Valley hitters, finishing with eight strikeouts for the day.

Saddleback showed its depth on offense as batters 6-through-8 finished 7-for-11 on the day with seven runs-scored and four RBI.  Tyler DeClusin was 3-for-4 with two runs-scored and three RBI.  Lance Gardiner remained hot, finishing 2-for-3 with a triple and three runs-scored.  Zachary Schwartzberg finished 2-for-4 with two runs-scored.

Saddleback tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the first inning when Cole Koniarsky had a two-out single to score Jordan Dissin from second base.  The Bobcats scored three times in the second inning and three more times in the third in knocking out Monarch starter Kyle Ayers.  Jacob Naso gave Saddleback a 3-1 lead in the second inning when he doubled down the left field line to score both DeClusin and Brent Riddle.  Gardiner electrified the crowd with a triple in the third inning that scored Schwartzberg for a 5-1 advantage.  DeClusin (pictured left) then followed with a double to score Gardiner (pictured right) and the Bobcats had it on cruise control.

Saddleback is now 33-8 overall for the season and has won 14 straight games.  The 14-game streak is the longest since 2002 when the program tied the longest winning streak in program history at 17.  The Bobcats will try to make it 15 straight wins on Saturday morning at 11:00 AM when they host Los Angeles Valley in game two of the series.  Los Angeles Valley will be the home team for game two of the series.  If Saddleback wins game two the Bobcats would advance to the next round of the playoffs next weekend.  Should Los Angeles Valley win game two, a third and deciding game would start 30 minutes after the completion of game two.