The Inland Valley Pirates (3-3-1, 1-3) lost to the OC Riptide (4-6-1, 2-0) in heart-breaking fashion for the second consecutive night.
This time the Riptide came through with five runs in the ninth to take a 7-5 victory over the host Pirates at Citrus College on Saturday night.
The Pirates jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Jason Padlo scored on an error.
The Riptide answered with two in the sixth.
Inland Valley fought back in the eighth plating three runs to make it a 4-2 contest heading into the final frame.
Ryan Marcos singled and scored. Nick Marshall ripped a RBI single and scored. Jeff Nellis and Padlo each added one RBI.
However, on this day, it wasn’t meant to be for the Pirates as Brett Early, who pitched a stellar first eight innings allowing only two runs while striking out nine, allowed the first three in the inning to reach base.
From there, the usually steady pitching staff fell apart and hit two batters, while walking another two with the bases loaded.
The Pirates look to regroup in a non-league doubleheader against the OCC Bucs on Sunday afternoon at Citrus College.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Jackson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jonny Reynoso | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Sean Patton | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Padlo | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nick Marshall | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Deceglie | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jeff Nellis | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Troy Resch | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nick Cordova | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Ryan Marcos | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 33 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
BattingTB: Sean Patton, Jason Padlo 2, Nick Marshall 2, Ryan Marcos
RBI: Jonny Reynoso, Jason Padlo, Nick Marshall, Jeff Nellis
FC: Jeff Nellis
HBP: Troy Resch
SB: Jason Padlo
| Pitching | IP | #P | TB | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sean Patton | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Brett Early | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0 | — |
| Andrew Matus | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Totals | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 0 | — |
PitchingL: Brett Early
HBP: Brett Early, Andrew Matus 2