The Pirates (26-6, 12-4) defeated Team San Diego (23-22, 7-9) 7-5 in a topsy-turvy affair on Monday afternoon at Cal Poly Pomona.
Inland Valley grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Kyle Jackson that scored Chaneng Varela.
San Diego answered with four runs in the top of the third to take a 4-1 lead.
The Pirates showed the heart of the champion fighting back for five runs in the bottom half of the inning as both teams sent up nine hitters and combined for nine runs.
All five Pirates runs were scored after two outs in the inning.
Jackson scored on an error.
Nathan Virgen and Andrew Alvarez scored on a two-run double by Kyle Garlick to knot the game up at 4-4.
Garlick scored on an RBI double by Anthony Virgen as the Pirates regained the lead.
Christian Kelley knocked in Anthony Virgen to increase the lead to 6-4, but Anthony was just getting started.
In his next at bat in the fifth inning, Anthony Virgen blasted a home run over the left field fence to make it 7-4.
San Diego responded with one in the sixth, but the two-run margin was as close as they would get as Jordan Scheftz (2-1), Jack Johnson and A.J. David all contributed to shutting down San Diego from the fourth inning on.
The Pirates improved to 18-3 at home this season and have earned one final home game tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 in Game 1 of the SCCBL Championship Series against the Palm Springs Power.
| Batting | AB | R | 1B | H | RBI | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonny Reynoso | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Jackson | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alec Morabito | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Anthony Virgen | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Nathan Virgen | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Chaneng Varela | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nolan Henley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacob Bernardy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Andrew Alvarez | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Kelley | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Garlick | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 34 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
2B: Kyle Jackson, Anthony Virgen, Chaneng Varela, Kyle Garlick
HR: Anthony Virgen
TB: Jonny Reynoso, Kyle Jackson 2, Anthony Virgen 6, Nathan Virgen, Chaneng Varela 2, Christian Kelley 2, Kyle Garlick 3
RBI: Kyle Jackson, Anthony Virgen 2, Christian Kelley, Kyle Garlick 2
ROE: Andrew Alvarez
| Pitching | IP | #P | TB | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.J. David | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Jordan Scheftz | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Jack Johnson | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| Michael Koval | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 0 | – |