On St. Patrick’s Day the Hornets continued their strong play, defeating Irvine Valley College 6-1, behind another strong outing from Dylan Prohoroff on the mound.

Shortstop, Justin Row, kicked things off with a triple. Two batters later, first baseman Oscar Heredia promptly singled up the middle to score Row.

The Lasers answered right back in the second inning when third baseman Adam Vargas singled to center, scoring first baseman Lucas Tancas from second.

The Hornets broke the tie in the bottom of the fifth with a double by right fielder Julio Rivera that brought home Row from first base. The very next batter, Heredia dropped an infield single that scored Rivera on the overthrow.

The day wasn’t all celebration for the Hornets. In the top of the seventh, a weak pop fly off the bat of Lasers designated hitter Robbie Espinosa to shallow right-center caused a vicious collision between Rivera and center fielder John Orlando that left Espinosa standing safe at second with a double.

Both Rivera and Orlando were forced to leave the game. The training staff would not release any information on the extent of their injuries after the game.

Fullerton received another dominant performance from the Orange Empire Conference’s top pitcher, Prohoroff. The anchor of the Hornets staff improved to (6-1), pitching a complete game, allowing five hits and one earned run, while striking out seven batters.

“I felt like had command of all my pitches and that’s what made me successful today,” Prohoroff said.

“It’s fun, a guy that throws strikes and he throws that hard. It’s easy,” said Garrett Basehart, Hornets catcher, of what it’s like with Prohoroff on the hill.

The Lasers had runners in scoring position in both the seventh and eighth inning, but Prohoroff was able to dial it up and get the Hornets out of a couple jams when it counted late in the game.

“I feel like that is just pitching in college, getting that experience on the bump and just maturing, executing, you know bear down and it’s been successful so far,” Prohoroff said.

“He always has that bulldog mentality, he battles back whether there are bases loaded, one out or no outs it doesn’t matter he will battle for you,” said Basehart.

Heredia provided the offense for the Hornets, finishing the game with two hits, a walk and three runs batted in. Basehart also had a nice game behind the plate, catching all nine innings and compiling three hits on the day.

Next up for the Hornets is a rematch with IVC on Thursday, traveling to face the Lasers. The Hornets will be back home again on Saturday taking on Golden West at noon.