What started as a pitchers duel ended as an extra inning thriller that went the way of Golden West winning 3-2 in 10 innings at Hoover Field.
Today's game was supposed to be played in Fullerton, but the heavy rain from last night flooded the field and the game was forced to relocate to Huntington Beach. This did not bother either team as Golden West (10-6, 1-0) and Fullerton (10-4, 0-1) each scored in the first inning. After the Hornets scored first, Rustler catcher Andrew Yazdanbakhsh singled home a run to tie the game. Yazdanbakhsh had a productive day at the plate going 4-for-5 scoring 1 run and driving in 1 run.
Fullerton struck again in the third inning off a mental lapse. With a runner on second base and two outs, the Hornet batter popped up to shallow infield. Pitcher Isaiah Terrazas, third baseman Michael Farris and Yazdanbakhsh's communication failed and the ball dropped to the ground allowing the runner to score.
From that point on, it was a pitchers duel between Terrazas and Fullerton starter Dylan Prohoroff. Prohoroff ended up going 6.1 innings with 4 strikeouts and gave up 1 run. Terrazas was the workhorse for Golden West pitching 9+ innings, surrendering only 3 hits and 2 runs, and struck out 4.
Golden West was eventually able to tie the game in the eighth inning as Yazdanbakhsh scored from third base on a wild pitch. Yazdanbakhsh was almost the hero in the ninth inning singling to right field with two outs, but Fullerton right fielder KC Huth fired a laser to the plate cutting down Danny Maguire trying to score from second base.
Terrazas was relieved in the ninth by Farris who did not allow Fullerton to cross the plate thanks to a spectacular diving stop by Alex Tovar at third base. Farris would then leadoff the tenth inning with a single. He stole second base and then Connor Larson was put on for free. Tovar squared to sacrifice bunt, but ended up beating the bunt out. Chad Katz came up with the bases loaded and struck out, but Keegan Reeser picked him up and hit the game-winning, walk-off single.
