After a nail-biting win against Santa Barbara, the Brahmas are gearing up to take on Citrus College Tuesday, April 26. With a lot on the line, Pierce College won by a score of 7-6 in the 10th-inning after a long battle on Thursday, April 21 against Santa Barbara Community College.
Two summer league teammates competed against each other for the first time wearing enemy jerseys and sitting in opposite dugouts.
Pierce College 1st-baseman and closer, James Wharton, has been friends with Santa Barbara College pitcher, Christopher Joyce, since the two began playing in a summer league for the Santa Barbara Foresters a few years ago. Summer baseball fails in comparison to a community college playoff chase. That’s where Wharton and Joyce found themselves right in the middle of Thursday afternoon.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Joyce. “We’ve played together for 3-years now; this was the first time we’ve played against each other.”
Wharton never got to square off against his friend as a pitcher since he didn’t come in until after Joyce was relieved, but he was able to go against him as a batter, going 1 for 3 against Joyce with a double in the first.
“He’s got some pretty nasty stuff,” said Wharton. “He’s one of the top pitchers we’ve faced so far.”
Joyce held the Brahmas to only one run until he was relieved after the 7th inning. No small feet considering Pierce had been stringing together quality at-bats for about the last month or so.
All in all, Pierce’s chances for a win looked bleak to say the least, until the 8th-inning, when left fielder Richard Stock hit a game-tying grand slam.
“It felt great,” said Stock. “I thought it was only a double when it came off the bat. Then I lost track of it until it went over the fence.”
Stock’s grand slam put the Brahmas in position to take the lead, which brought Wharton off of first base to close the game.
Wharton held Santa Barbara to no runs for the rest of the contest.
“We needed this win,” said Head Coach John Bushart. “We had a big win last Saturday that put us in first place, but we’ve been struggling and this win will help us along.”
The Brahmas are in first place in conference with a record of 12-7, according to Bushart, and control their own playoff destiny. It’s quite simple really; win or go home.