Legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi once said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” The Hornets were knocked down, but had the strength to get back up and complete their comeback against the Huskies of East LA College, winning 8-4 on Thursday afternoon at home.

The odds were stacked against the Hornets late in the game, facing a 4-1 deficit in the bottom of the sixth. They had only mustered two hits to that point.

Fending off the nerves, the Hornets were in business after a lead off walk issued to freshman DH Diego Franco followed by a back side single from sophomore right fielder Isaiah Marquez.

ELAC starter sophomore RHP Robert Banuelos, who had dominated most of the day, made a poor pickoff throw to second base, which rolled into center field, advancing the runners. Then, the unthinkable happened. Huskies sophomore center fielder Nicholas Bobadilla made the most egregious error when he let the ball go through his legs, rolling all the way to the warning track. This allowed both runners to score off the mistakes, shrinking ELAC’s lead to 4-3.

Fullerton’s starting pitcher sophomore RHP Freddy Castenada was not sharp, going five and a third innings, allowing five hits, four runs, four walks, and two strikeouts. He walked the first batter of the game on four straight pitches, along with hitting a batter and only having one clean inning during his start.

Castenada didn’t have his best stuff according to Manager Chad Baum, but noted he had been on his “A” game the past three weeks and was facing a tough Huskies team.

With an opening in sight and the Hornets seeing a chance to take the game back, Fullerton went right to work the very next inning in the bottom of the seventh.

Freshman first baseman Tank Espalin drilled a single up the middle to lead off the home half of the inning. With the tying run at first, OEC MVP Britton Beeson, who coming into this at-bat was 0 for 3 with a strikeout, demolished the baseball to right center, sprinting around the bases for a game-tying RBI triple.

“I just had to slow my heart rate down and trust my process… and I finally found it towards the end of the game and got my pitch to hit,” Beeson said.

After a Franco strikeout, Marquez delivered the lead to the Hornets, with an RBI single up the middle, putting Fullerton on top 5-4.

The Hornets continued to pile it on, when the heart and soul of the team, sophomore catcher Haku Dudoit, hustled down the line to beat out an infield single with the bases loaded, scoring Marquez and putting Fullerton up 6-4 entering the eighth inning.

Sophomore LHP Vincent Segovia was masterful out of the bullpen, collecting the win. He pitched two and two thirds innings, allowing three hits, no runs, one walk, and striking out three Huskies, all coming in the eighth where he struck out the side.

Baum was most proud of how his team handled this moment and credits the culture he and his staff are building at Fullerton. “The thing I’m the most proud of is they are rooting and playing for each other… that’s what’s led to the success we’ve had.”

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Fullerton added on some extra insurance, thanks to the bats of Beeson and Marquez yet again. After Espalin capped off his 3 for 3, on base five times afternoon with his second walk, Beeson scorched yet another extra base hit down the left field line, scoring Espalin from first.

After a very professional at-bat from Franco to get Beeson over to third base, Marquez got a hold of a breaking ball and ripped it for a double over the left fielder’s head, bringing the score to its final of 8-4.

“That at-bat, emotions were up. To start I got a little wound up, saw a changeup, swung at it down. Tried to just raise my sights [like] what I’ve been working on in practice,” Marquez said. “With two strikes I got the hanging curveball, got the head [of the bat] out how we’ve been working on and executed the pitch.”

Hornets closer LHP Nathan McManus made things slightly interesting in the ninth, by walking freshman DH Beno Olmeda and giving up a single to sophomore right fielder Julian Eskridge. He then slammed the door on a Fullerton victory with a strikeout of sophomore third baseman Emiliano Campos.

Though the start was not ideal, Marquez was proud of his guys for being resilient.

“In this playoff atmosphere the nerves can get up, people can get out of character, but we came back and did what we were supposed to do… come out with a win,” Marquez said.

The Hornets will now play a double elimination series against the Monarchs of LA Valley College. The first game will be Friday, May 12 at 1 p.m. The second game of the Super Regional will be Saturday, May 13 at 11 a.m. featuring the Hornets and the Monarchs. If the third game is necessary, it will also be played Saturday, May 13 at approximately 2:45 p.m. All games will be played at Fullerton College.