The Hornets were unable to prevail against Orange Coast Pirates ending the game 8-4 on April 4 at the Hornets home field.
Orange Coast College Pirates who are (23-5, 10-3) came ready to play as sophomore infielder Travis Moniot hit a home run over the scoreboard taking the lead.
The inning quickly ended with a well delivered pitch thrown to first base by freshman starting pitcher Garrett Molnar.
The bottom of the first remained scoreless with no hits. Sophomore outfieder Joey Parente got out on first and a solid catch by Pirates third baseman Eric Wagaman.
As Sophomore infielder J.T Navarro went up to bat, it flied out towards right field bringing the top of the third to a slow start. After ball four was thrown, Moniot easily got on base. Another pop up was hit adding another out, but allowing Moniot to steal second.
As the top of the third progressed so did the Pirates offense. Up to bat, Sophomore catcher Robert Teel singled out to left centerfield bringing in Moniot home advancing their lead 2-0. Hornets pitcher, Molnar brought the inning to an end with a strike out.
Hornets up to bat who are (12-17, 2-11), sophomore infielder Todd Yost led the inning with an out. Bottom of the third took a turn as freshman catcher Tate Brock doubled out to left field. Singling out to left field, freshman outfielder Thomas Delgadillo brought in Brock trailing the Pirates 2-1.
With one out on the scoreboard, Parente grounded out to second base giving Delgadillo the chance to advance to second. Ending the opportunity to tie the game, freshman infielder Jacob Manzur lined out to third base.
As the visiting crowd cheered the Pirates on, sophomore outfielder John Balliet doubled out to left field. The momentum kept strong in the top of the fourth, when sophomore outfielder Nolan Powers bunted and safely got to first base.
Due to an error on the pitcher, sophomore outfielder Jacob White reached to first. With bases loaded Navarro came to bat, he flied out to left field allowing Balliet to score on an error by Hornets shortstop upping their lead 3-1.
Cheers grew stronger as Moniot grounded out to second bringing in sophomore outfielder Nolan Powers home, changing the atmosphere of the game 4-1. Inning came to an end with a fly ball caught by Hornets outfielder.
Taking action, freshman first baseman Grant Woodward singled out to right field. With Yost up to bat he singled out to left field. Determined to bring in runners home, Brock bunted to advance runners to second and third.
Trailing the Pirates, runner on third made it to home as Delgadillo was caught at first base upping their score 4-2. Parente ends the inning with fly ball to left field.
Hornets kept fighting and advanced their lead 4-3 when Woodward singled out to left field bringing Manzur home and Hayes to second. As Yost came to bat, he bunted straight to the pitcher ending the inning.
Top of the seventh, Pirates led the inning with a walk, a single, and another single that was bunted. No outs on the scoreboad, Balliet reached to first bringing in a runner home upping their lead 5-3. Powers popped up to second base, first out in the inning. As White singled to right field the Pirates brought in another runner home making the score 6-3.
The top of the seventh didn’t end there, due to errors from the Hornets, they allowed two more runs in, upping the score 8-3. After a crucial inning for the Hornets, batter struck out looking.
Bottom of the seventh trailing the Pirates, the Hornets managed to bring in another run advancing their score 8-4. The inning was brought to an end when Hayes struck out.
The eighth and ninth inning remained scoreless and the game finished off with the Pirates taking the first game of the three game series 8-4.
Fuscardo ended on a clear note and said, “We are going down there, and we need a good performance from Chris Sanchez. And if he throws good for us, he might give us a chance to win, but we have to hit the clutch”.
Catch the Hornets play the Orange Coast Pirates for the second game in the series on April 6 at 2:00 p.m. away at the Pirates home field.
