Cypress, Calif.The Cypress College Chargers faced off against Orange Coast College Pirates at home for the first time this season in a tense OEC league match up.
After a tight two innings the Pirates scored one run in both the third and fourth innings before scoring what proved to be the game winning run in the top of the ninth. Cypress was held scoreless until they put together four singles and a walk to close the gap at 3-2.
Nathan Kutcha
Charger’s starting pitcher Nathan Kutcha said of the relentless comeback that “It was a hard fought game by both teams every inning. Our defense made some great plays to keep us in the ball game and our rally in the 9th inning was an awesome sign of fighting back and never giving up.”
As one of the hitters to make it on base, John Santospago had a focused mindset and one goal in mind, “I was confident going up in the bottom of the ninth with the mentality to get on base and I put a good swing on the ball.”
The energy on the field shifted as nervous fans watched on. With one out and bases loaded, Grant Mayeaux was on third base as the tying run. On the last play of the game Tyler Gnesda hit a pop fly that was caught in shallow right field in foul ground by a hustling second baseman. Mayeaux tagged up and was thrown out at the plate on a controversial tag. The game ended on this play which gave OCC a 3-2 victory.
Tyler Gnesda and Jack Flansburg
Joe Vanmarter, who scored one of Cypress’ critical runs, said of his team’s tenacity, “We always fight until the last out. So we did whatever we could to get on base and score. And some people came up clutch but OCC made a good play and we were unable to tie and win the game.”
Cypress Chargers will be on the road for the next two games and will return home on Thursday at 2 p.m. to face off in a OEC league game against Fullerton College.
