With a playoff spot on the line Thursday afternoon, SBCC dug deep and came up with a four-run ninth-inning rally to register a 7-6 walk-off baseball win over L.A. Pierce at Pershing Park.
Andy Smith went 3-4 with three RBIs for the Vaqueros (19-16, 11-8), who locked up second place in the WSC North and an automatic trip to the playoffs after Hancock beat Ventura 4-1.
Santa Barbara will make its third straight trip to the Southern Cal Regional with a probable first-round game on Tuesday.
“Our season was on the line and everyone had a job to do,” said Smith, a sophomore outfielder from Las Vegas. “Brett Sesma did a great job of coming off the bench and getting us started with that double.”
A Vaquero victory was looking improbable going into the bottom of the ninth, when the Vaqueros trailed 6-3. Sesma opened with a pinch-hit double to left-center and catcher Jared Dinges followed with a single to left that chased Brahma starter Bobby Schauer.
Smith drove in Sesma with a single and following a groundout, Payton Milone tied the game with a two-run single. He hit a sharp one-hopper to the right of the shortstop and the ball caromed off his glove into short center field, allowing Dinges and Smith to score.
After Zach Zehner reached on an error, third baseman Kevin Torres came in to pitch. Torres hit the first two batters, Tony Simon and Tyler Sharp, on two pitches to force in a run and give SBCC its first walk-off win of the year.
“We just needed baserunners in the ninth,” said Sharp. “We knew their last pitcher had only thrown four innings this year. After seeing Tony get hit, I was just thinking ’take’ and it grazed my stomach.”
Dinges was 3-4 and threw out two potential base stealers. He drove in SBCC’s first run with a two-out RBI single in the second inning. The Vaqueros extended it to 3-0 in the fourth on a two-run single by Smith. Pierce grabbed the lead by scoring five in the seventh on two hits, two errors, a walk and a hit batter.
The Vaqueros committed three errors, leading to four unearned runs.
Brendon Shoemake pitched 8 1/3 innings for the Vaqueros, giving up six runs (two earned) on seven hits. He struck out four and walked four.
Ryan Massengale (3-1) got the win, coming on in the ninth with one out and a runner on second. He got a groundout and walked a batter before ending the threat on a 6-4 forceout at second base.
SBCC finishes the regular season on Friday with a 2:30 p.m. game at L.A. Pierce in Woodland Hills.
BOX SCORE
L.A. Pierce …….. 000 000 501 — 6 7 2
SBCC …..…….… 010 200 004 — 7 11 3
Schauer, Achez (9), Torres (9) and D’Andrea; Shoemake, Massengale (9) and Dinges. W–Massengale 3-1. L–Achez 1-2.
2B–P: Davis. SB: Sesma.
