Cats enjoy big home-opener
Saddleback has three home games this week
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | X | 9 | 7 | 0 |
The Saddleback baseball team won its second straight game to start the 2026 campaign with a 9-1 victory over College of the Canyons on Saturday at the Saddleback Baseball Complex. Saddleback will play at home three times this coming week.
Saddleback and Canyons played a slugfest out at Canyons on Friday with Saddleback hanging on for a narrow win. The game on Saturday had a different feeling as the Saddleback pitching stifled the Canyons offense while the Bobcat bats continued to find ways to score.
Saddleback took advantage of some wildness from the Canyons pitching staff as the Bobcats registered 12 walks on the afternoon. They mixed in seven hits along the way in opening up a big lead in the late innings.
Jace Barajas started on the mound for Saddleback and pitched through the fourth inning. Barajas struck out three while allowing four hits before giving way to the bullpen.
Jack Gallison, Landon Gordon and Conrad Hunziker came in to keep the Canyons offense quiet, allowing just three hits and one walk over the final five innings of work. The pitching staff had some help from the defense, which turned a couple of double-plays and looked solid throughout while committing zero errors in the field.
Jacob Hudson (pictured) and Dmitri Susidko had a solid days at the plate, with both finishing 2-for-4 with a walk in reaching base three times apiece. Carter Enoch had three RBI and two walks as 10 different players reached base over the course of the game.
Saddleback led 5-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning when they exploded for four runs to blow the game wide open. The Bobcats had three walks and three hits in the inning. Joey Doskocil and Susidko had back-to-back singles to give Saddleback an 8-1 advantage. Wesley Hickey then walked before a wild pitch brought Doskocil home from third base with the final run of the game.
Saddleback is now 2-0 to start the season. The Bobcats will have three home games this week, starting with a game against Ventura College on Tuesday afternoon. The Bobcats and Pirates are scheduled to start at 2:00 PM at the Saddleback Baseball Complex.