Hickey’s walk-off ends close battle
Cats now 3-0 to start
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
|
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
The Saddleback baseball team improved to 3-0 with a 2-1 victory over Ventura College in 10 innings on Tuesday at the Saddleback Baseball Complex. Wesley Hickey's walk-off double to the gap broke a 1-1 tie.
Saddleback and Ventura had an ole fashion pitcher's dual on Tuesday. The two teams played 10 innings in just 2:31, with Saddleback coming out on top.
Saddleback took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the second inning when the Bobcats took advantage of a defensive miscue and turned it into a run. Matthew Henning led off the inning with a triple to left field before Jacob Hudson was hit by a pitch to give the Bobcats runners at the corners with no outs in the inning. Following a strikeout, Cole Strane hit a ball to the third baseman that was misplayed, allowing the run to score from third base with the first run of the game.
Ventura tied the game in the top half of the fourth inning when Grant Rodriguez hit a solo home run over the right field wall for the lone Pirate run of the game.
From that point forward the pitching dominated the game. The teams went scoreless for the next five innings until the bottom of the 10th inning when Saddleback finally broke the stalemate. Austin Palmares was hit by a pitch with one out in the inning to put the potential winning run on base. Ryan Luce followed with a single to left field to move Palmares over to second base. Following another strikeout, Wesley Hickey came to the plate with two outs in the inning and delivered a ball to the right-center field gap and out of the reach of the center fielder, driving in Palmares with the winning run of the game.
Saddleback started Jayden Graves on the mound, and he pitched through the fourth inning before giving way to the bullpen. The Cats then used a trio of pitchers out of the pen, including Brennan Bauer, Evan Daly and Miles Chandler. The trio allowed just two hits in six innings of work, with Chandler picking up his first win of the season.
Henning joined Hickey as one of the stars on offense, finishing 3-for-4 while scoring the opening run of the game.
Saddleback is now 3-0 to start the season. The Bobcats will look for a fourth straight win to start the season on Thursday when they host Grossmont College. Saddleback and Grossmont are scheduled to start at 2:00 PM on Thursday at the Saddleback Baseball Complex.