Giants Fall to Rams 6-5

FRESNO, Calif. – College of the Sequoias nearly knocked off first-place Fresno City for the second time this week, but a two-run ninth inning lifted the Rams to a 6-5 walk-off win on Thursday afternoon in a tightly contested Central Valley Conference matchup. 

The Giants (16-18, 9-9 CVC) led three different times and carried a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth before Fresno City (25-8, 16-2 CVC) rallied for three runs to even the series at one game apiece. 

College of the Sequoias opened the scoring in the first when Alex Lopez (Golden West HS) drove in Aiden Medina (Hoover HS) with an RBI single. After Fresno tied it in the second, the Giants answered in the third. Cruz Rodriguez (Redwood HS) scored on a sacrifice fly by Lopez, and Diego Sanchez (Bakersfield Christian HS) followed with an RBI single to plate Zach Milhous (Monache HS), giving COS a 3-1 lead. 

Tied 3-3 in the sixth, Caleb Catalano (San Francisco) punched a go-ahead RBI single to center to score Ned Ceklic (Alberta). In the ninth, Rodriguez added insurance with a clutch two-out RBI single to left, scoring Catalano to make it 5-3. 

But Fresno answered in the bottom half, starting with a walk and a two-run home run by Evan Wallace to tie the game. After a double by JP Acosta, Elijah Moultrie drove a walk-off double to left to hand the Rams the win. 

COS outhit Fresno 13-9 and got multi-hit games from Rodriguez (3-for-4), Catalano (2-for-4), Lopez (2 RBIs), and Sanchez. On the mound, Tyson Kilbreath (Alberta) worked 6.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits. Aaron Prieto (Fowler HS) tossed 1.1 scoreless innings in relief. Romeo Lopez (San Francisco) and Nick Senn (El Diamante HS) worked the ninth. 

"That was a tough one to let slip," Head Coach Jody Allen said. "We put ourselves in position with great at-bats and a strong outing from Tyson, but we've got to close out the game. We're proud of how we battled on the road." 

On Deck on the Giants 

COS and Fresno City will wrap up the three-game set on Saturday, April 12 at 1:00 p.m. in Fresno. The Giants will then head to Porterville on Monday, April 14 at 2:00 p.m. for a single conference game, before returning home to host Merced College on Wednesday, April 16 at 2:00 p.m. 

Notable Performances

• Cruz Rodriguez (Redwood HS): 3-for-4, RBI, R, BB

• Caleb Catalano (Redwood HS): 2-for-4, RBI, R

• Alex Lopez (Golden West HS): 2-for-4, 2 RBI

• Diego Sanchez (Bakersfield Christian HS): 2-for-4, RBI

• Tyson Kilbreath (Alberta): 6.2 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

• Aaron Prieto (Fowler HS): 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K