The crowd roared with excitement as sophomore Chase Kerr crossed home plate after a deep shot soared over the right field ivy in the bottom of the eighth, leading to a 7-2 Hornet victory over the Cypress Chargers.
“Today we showed what we are capable of as a team,” said Kerr.
Confidence radiated off the Fullerton College Hornets (9-10) as they dominated offensively throughout the nine innings of play. The win, clinching the first of a three game series against Cypress College after coming off a tough six loss streak in the Orange Empire Conference.
“It was a fun game for all of us,” said Hornets head coach Nick Fuscardo. “We have been working really hard and today we just played, getting clutch hits and runners on base.”
The Hornets came out strong in the first inning with sophomore second baseman Ryan Aguirre hitting an RBI single to bring in freshman outfielder Monte Montenegro for a 1-0 lead right off the bat.
Sophomore catcher Jesse Hayes reached first base off an error from the Chargers’ shortstop, advancing sophomore first baseman Jake Anderson to second, but Aguirre was out at third after getting himself into a rundown with the Chargers catcher and shortstop.
The excitement continued through the first as Kerr hit a single RBI, bringing in Anderson to score, 2-0. Sophomore designated hitter Thomas Delgadillo’s double RBI to left field brought in Kerr, leaving the lead at three runs going into the second.
Hoping to stay in the game, the Chargers came back with a run in the second inning after sophomore outfielder Aaron Simpson’s sacrifice fly to right field, allowing freshman infielder Greg Lamb to score.
It was either team’s game going into the third and fourth innings with strikeouts from both teams, but the Hornets determination prevailed over Cypress.
Chargers sophomore pitcher Jake Mahood struggled on the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning letting runners on base and hitting Hornets center fielder Angel Lopez with a pitch, leading to a Cypress mound visit.
Continuing in the seventh, Aguirre continued his hot streak by singling uo the middle for a 2 RBIs that brought in sophomore shortstop Ivan Ramos and Lopez to home plate to take the lead 5-1.
“It felt good to get three RBI’s for the team after recently struggling at bat,” Aguirre said.
Down by four runs, the Chargers caught a break in the eighth after freshman starting pitcher Connor Tousignant walked Cypress sophomore infielder Aaron Lizarraga to load the bases.
Following the walk, the freshman was pulled from the game.
Tousignant was cheered off the field after pitching seven sinnings with only two earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts.
“Tousignant is a battler, he was off in the beginning, but he gives us effort every time,” Fuscardo said.
Sophomore Kevin Foley took over the mound giving up one run at the end of the seventh after Chargers Lamb hit a sacrifice fly to center making it 5-2.
Kerr came into the eighth looking for a good pitch in the zone, and he got it, delivering the only home run of the game adding to the Hornets lead an route to their 7-2 victory.
“We needed this win badly,” said Fuscardo, who is determined to beat Cypress again in their final season series.
The Hornets second game against Cypress (24-14,9-10) will be on the road Thursday, Apr. 26th at 2 p.m.