The Inland Valley Bucs (13-15-2, 8-11) split the season series with the OC Riptide (15-19-1, 12-8) on Wednesday night at Cal Poly Pomona.
The Bucs won 10-3 in the final game of the set and will renew the rivalry next Monday in the first round of the SCCBL playoffs.
For the first seven innings, it was a back-and-forth affair until the Bucs used a six-run eighth inning to put the game out of reach.
Randall Ortiz was sensational tossing 6.2 innings and striking out six, while not allowing an earned run.
The Riptide got out to a 1-0 lead in the first.
The Bucs answered with one in the third on a Kevin Riley RBI double, but he was just getting started.
Inland Valley grabbed a 2-1 lead in the fifth as Brendan Campbell crossed home plate.
The Riptide fought back with two in the seventh to regain the lead at 3-2.
The Bucs responded with two of their own in the bottom of the frame to rip the lead away for good.
Riley had his second RBI double of the day to tie it at 3-3 and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.
In the ninth, things got out of hand for the Riptide as the Bucs came through with six runs.
JP Hopkins had a tw0-run knock.
Riley cranked his third double down the left field line, this time scoring two for a total of four RBI and scored his second run of the game as well.
Bryce Brooks rounded out the scoring with an RBI ground out.
Jacob Taylor hurled 2.1 innings and recorded his first victory of the season.
The Bucs travel south to Madison High School to face the San Diego Force in their regular season finale at 5 p.m. on Friday.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breyer Gayle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| JP Hopkins | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Connor Steer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brendan Campbell | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kevin Riley | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Blake Vandegrift | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Johnny Juarez | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Hershel Gardner | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Majher | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Diego Cortes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bryce Brooks | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| DJ Peters | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 38 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
Batting2B: Brendan Campbell, Kevin Riley 3
TB: JP Hopkins 3, Brendan Campbell 2, Kevin Riley 6, Johnny Juarez, Hershel Gardner, DJ Peters
RBI: JP Hopkins, Kevin Riley 4, Bryce Brooks
ROE: Kevin Riley, Hershel Gardner 2
HBP: Bryce Brooks
SB: JP Hopkins
| Pitching | IP | #P | S% | H | R | ER | K | BB | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randall Ortiz | 6.2 | 0 | .000 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Jacob Taylor | 2.1 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 0 | — | 6 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
PitchingW: Jacob Taylor