Dan Cromar / Roundup
They needed a good week, and they got one.
Despite giving up a lead in the ninth, the Pierce College baseball team defeated the Citrus Owls (9-11, 4-3) 4-3 in ten innings.
The win capped a week in which the Brahmas went 2-1, bringing their overall record back over .500 (10-9), and their conference record to just one game under .500 (3-4).
“We’re kind of just being a bunch of ‘I’ guys, all playing for ourselves,” said sophomore Travis Forbes, on the Brahmas recent struggles. “Once we start playing together we have the talent on this team to do something really, really special.”
Forbes got a chance to make a difference in a new way, getting his first start at catcher this season.
“We had a couple freshman…who were struggling a little back there,” said Forbes, who recently signed as a catcher with Gonzaga University. “To be honest, even after not catching in awhile, I felt more comfortable there than in the outfield.”
“Me and Travis are pretty close,” said Ryan Santhon, who started on the mound for the Brahmas. “I’m used to Gonzalez, but Travis did a great job catching.”
Santhon pitched a full 9 innings, giving up 9 hits, no walks, 3 runs (2 earned) and striking out 7, while throwing to his new battery-mate.
For the Brahmas offensively, the big hit came in the bottom of the 10th, when Fernando Gallegos lashed a walk-off single after a pair of Citrus errors put runners in scoring position.
“It helps…not only the team, but my confidence, because I’m a freshman,” said Gallegos.
Only two of Santhon’s runs were earned, as a Justin Fredlander error set up what would prove to be a key run in the top of the eighth.
“If we play catch a little better, we’re not in extra innings,” said head coach Jon Bushart. “But that’s baseball. You’ve got to work around that stuff.”
Errors have been the Brahmas undoing as of late, but on this day at least, they were able to overcome.
However, errors or not, the Citrus offense had a hard time getting much of anything going against Santhon for most of the game, leaving ten runners on base, six of them in scoring position.
The Brahmas offense managed to capitalize in the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead on a throwing error and extending it to 3-0 on a Giovanni Mazzola RBI double.
After that, however, they were kept quiet until the tenth, also leaving ten runners on base.
James Wharton got his first win of the season after pitching a scoreless tenth.
Despite their prior struggles, the Brahmas still feel that they have what it takes to go far.
“We have probably one of the best offenses in the conference, so we’ll see how it goes,” said Gallegos.
“We need to throw down our egos a little bit and play as the Brahmas, and not as a bunch of last names going out there,” said Forbes.
“We’re the Brahmas.”
Pierce’s next home game is tomorrow against Bakersfield at 2:30 p.m.
Justin Fredlender dives to tag out Citrus runner, Nick Gosano on the third base line at Joe Kelly Field, Mar. 15, 2011. (Jose Romero 2011)