June 19, 2019 Pasadena, CA Leading 5-2 heading into the ninth inning, the Academy Barons scored two insurance runs on two singles, a walk and an error, and needed both as the Arroyo Seco Saints rallied for four runs in their last at bat and left the tying run at third as the Barons held on to beat the Saints 7-6 tonight at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Barons got a leadoff single from Basiel Williams Jr. (Jones JC) to start the ninth inning. Williams then stole second and third base and scored on an error, and, after a walk, Kyle Freeman (Pitzer College) hit an single to drive in what would prove to be the winning run. Up to this point in the game, the Academy relief pitchers had been nearly perfect as Travis Lavendier (Chico St) retired all four batters he faced in order, Noel Soto (Long Beach JC) pitched around a leadoff walk by retiring three straight, two by strikeout, and Trevor Sutt (Long Beach JC) retired the side in order in his one-inning appearance. But when the bottom of the ninth inning started the fourth Barons reliever, Elijah Pleasants, faced a fierce Saints rally sparked by an error that allowed the leadoff batter to reach. Nolan Tressler (Georgia Southern) hit an RBI-triple and scored on a balk, and Thomas McCarthy (USF) doubled before and out was recorded to get the Saints within two. Pleasants struck out the next two batters, to seemingly squelch the rally, before an RBI-single by Christian Scott (Tennessee), a walk and two passed balls put another run across and the tying run at third. Pleasants struck out his third batter of the inning, however, to close out the win for the Academy. Brandon Mitchell (New Orleans) started on the mound for the Barons, striking out four in four and two-thirds innings of work and allowing two runs on four hits before turning the pitching duties over to the bullpen. The Barons jumped out to an early lead in the game, scoring three times in their first at bat on doubles by Channy Ortiz (Grand Canyon) and Freeman and two singles and, after the Saints scored their two runs, added two more when Ortiz drove in a pair with his game-high third hit in the sixth. Drew Atherton (Cal Poly Pomona) started on the mound for Arroyo Seco and suffered the loss, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out five in three and a third innings of work. Trevor Beer (UC Santa Barbara) also struck out five in his two-plus innings, but allowed two runs in relief of Atherton. Click here for recaps of this game Elsewhere around the CCL tonight: San Luis Obispo, CA Jake Jackson (Nevada) struck out five in six innings of one-run baseball and Ross Cadena (Wichita State) and Tommy Holguin (SBCC) got clutch two-out RBI-hits to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to a 3-1 win over the San Luis Obispo Blues tonight at Sinsheimer Park. Jackson stranded five runners on base in his outing and retired eight batters in a row after allowing the first two hitters he faced to reach via a single and a walk. The only run he allowed came in the fifth inning when Ryan Cole (Notre Dame) , who would finish with a game-high three hits, hit a bunt single with two outs and scored on a Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts) double. Jackson stranded Swift by retiring the next batter and retired three straight in the fifth before turning the pitching over to the Foresters bullpen with a 2-1 lead. Santa Barbara scored both of their early runs off of Blues starting pitcher Jack Hodgins (Hendrix College) who suffered the loss, pitching four innings while striking out two. Ryan Cash (Oral Roberts) doubled to lead off the third inning and scored the first Foresters run on a Blake Hall (Oral Roberts) RBI-single, and Quentin Selma (Cal) singled to lead off the fourth and scored their second run when Holguin hit his two-out single. Mitchell Scott (Cal) was the first reliever into the game for San Luis and held Santa Barbara at bay for three scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing only one hit before turning the pitching duties over to Bradley Tews (Azusa Pacific), who surrendered Cadena's two-out RBI-double in the eighth inning, and Evan Ingram (Hendrix) who struck out three in a scoreless ninth. Four Santa Barbara relievers held the Blues scoreless for the second night in a row, capped by a close out ninth inning performance by Connor Woods (UNLV) who pitched around a leadoff bunt single by striking out two and getting a fly ball out to pick up the save. Click here for recaps of this game Irvine, CA The Orange County Riptide rallied for seven runs to overcome a three-run deficit in the seventh inning and went on to beat the Conejo Oaks 10-8 tonight at Great Park Stadium. The Riptide batted around and got six hits in the seventh, including two singles in the inning by Dylan Rock (UTSA), a two-run single by Michael Peabody (UC Irvine) and a pair of two-out run-scoring doubles by Blake Faddoul (Santa Clara) and Blake Evans (Georgia Southern). It was the first time the Oaks had trailed in the game, having posted a 2-0 lead when Nico Lima (Oxnard JC) hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, a 5-2 lead after Rock drove in a pair of runs for the Riptide in the fifth and the Oaks answered with three in the sixth on a bases-loaded two-run single by Jacob Castro (UC Irvine) and an RBI-single by Tyler Odekirk (Cal St LA), and 7-3 in the seventh when Justin Ammons (Tennessee) singled, advanced to third on a pair of singles and scored on a wild pitch after Faddoul hit an RBI-single for Orange County in the sixth. Devin Sutorius (Biola) started on the mound for Orange County, striking out five in five innings and allowing three runs on four hits, and Jacob Flores (San Diego St) started for Conejo, striking out six while allowing one run on four hits over four and a third innings of work. Noah Walker (Texas St) very much earned the pitching win for the Riptide, entering the game after the Oaks had already scored three times in the sixth inning with no outs and two runners still on base. Walker struck out the first three batters he faced to escape the sixth inning and struck out two more in the seventh after allowing one run on three singles. Cole Samuels (St Louis) stuck out two in a scoreless eighth and after Odekirk hit a two-run home run off of Sean Higgins (Columbia) to make the score 10-8 in the ninth inning, Marrick Crouse entered the game and recorded the final two outs to close out the win for Orange County. Click here for recaps of this game Alameda, CA Wellington Balsley (Solano JC) and Nick Peifer (Cal Poly Pomona) each had three hits and three runs scored, and Nik Dodson struck out six batters in three innings of relief to lead the Solano Mudcats to a 13-7 win over the San Francisco Seals tonight at Alameda College. Balsley and Peifer's stats lines highlighted the Mudcats 13-hit performance tonight, which was bolstered by ten walks issued by San Francisco's pitchers. That combination made for a busy night on the bases for Solano as every batter in their lineup reached base safely, and all but one reached base safely multiple times. Seven of the nine hitters scored runs and a different seven of nine collected hits. In comparison, Edgar Aqui (Solano JC), who started on the mound for Solano and struck out four while allowing four runs on six hits over five innings, Ben Aguigui (Holy Names) who pitched one scoreless inning, and Dodson, combined, issued only two walks. Still the game was relatively close-fought as Solano did not pull away until scoring five unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings, and four to put the game away in the ninth. The Seals got two-hit performances from Tommy Cruz (Abilene Christian), Robert Lujan (Cal State East Bay) and Flynn Morrison (Redwoods JC). Click here for recaps of this game