Doskocil delivers in 12th

The Saddleback baseball team opened a three-game series with Cypress College with a 4-3 win in 12 innings on Tuesday at Saddleback Field.  The Bobcats rallied from a 3-run deficit in winning the opening game of the series.

Saddleback and Cypress were locked in a pitcher's duel for most of the game.  The Bobcats and Chargers were scoreless heading into the fifth inning when Cypress scored a solo run in three consecutive innings in taking a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh while riding the hot arm of starting pitcher Rocky Palacio.

Saddleback finally touched up Palacio to start the bottom half of the seventh inning when Joey Doskocil and Andrew Bertolette had back-to-back doubles to break up the shutout.  Saddleback scored just one run in the inning but was successful in getting Palacio out of the game as Cypress went to the bullpen.

Saddleback trailed 3-1 heading to the bottom half of the ninth inning.  The Bobcats caught a break to start the inning when Bertolette reached first base after the Cypress second baseman bobbled the ball and threw late to first base.  With one out in the inning, Jake Natori then delivered a sharp single to center field, which advanced pinch runner Ryan Luce to second base.  Jack Borges then followed with another single to drive home Luce while pinch runner Dmitri Susidko advanced to second base.  Following a strikeout, Jacob Hudson came to the plate and reached first base when the third baseman threw the ball high of first base and out of play, allowing Susidko to cross home plate with Borges advancing to third base with the potential winning run.  The Chargers then got out of the jam with a groundout to second base to send the game to extra innings.

Saddleback and Cypress went to the bottom half of the 12^th inning with the game still tied and the two teams approaching 400 pitches for the game.  With one out in the bottom half of the 12^th inning, Matthew Henning delivered a single up the middle and then stole second base to put the potential winning run at second base.  Cade Cerone then came to the plate and hit a soft liner to center field for a single, but Henning only advanced to third base because he had to wait to see if the ball would be caught.  With runners at the corners and one out, Doskocil came to the plate and Cypress pulled their outfielders in shallow in case of a hit.  Doskocil then juiced a ball over the left fielder's head, thus allowing Henning to score with the final run of the game. 

Doskocil finished 3-for-5 to lead the offense.  Henning reached base four times, finishing 1-for-3 with three walks.

Saddleback started Jace Barajas on the mound and he pitched through the sixth inning before giving way to the bullpen.  Jayden Graves, Jack Gallison, Miles Chandler and Ryan Rios held the Chargers in check, allowing just one earned run over the final six innings. Rios (4-2) threw only three pitches in finishing the top half of the 12^th inning in picking up his fourth win of the season. 

Saddleback is now 15-14 overall and 5-5 in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) play following the win.  The Bobcats are now tied for fourth place with Fullerton College in the OEC with 11 games remaining.

Saddleback and Cypress will play game two of the series at Cypress at 2:00 PM on Thursday.