IRVINE, Calif – A Friday night matchup between the OC Riptide and the Arroyo Seco Saints in an early-season standoff unfolded at the Great Park in Irvine. The Saints took an early lead which helped secure the win, but not without a strong challenge from the Riptide offense. Key moments and standout performances from both teams throughout the game proved that this season will be one to watch.
After the Saints drew first blood by opening the game with a four-run inning, it was a question of how the Riptide would respond. Crew McChesney, Joey Donnelly, Josh Livingston, and Alex Birge contributed singles off Riptide’s starting pitcher Sammy Petrocelli, aided by a few walks and errors from the Riptide defense. Silenced in the bottom of the first, the Riptide quickly flipped the script in the second inning. A leadoff single from Nathan Cadena, followed by a single from Jake Brown, a double from Luke Johnson, and an RBI groundout from Max Senesac enabled the Riptide to score two runs and stay mentally in the game.
“I think the guys did a relatively good job staying up in the dugout and keeping their energy. I think there was a lot of confidence offensively today with them knowing that they were going to be having to battle their way back,” stated Riptide head coach Conner Spencer.
The next few innings were scoreless, with players from each team getting into scoring positions but unable to capitalize.
The Riptide had a promising chance to close the gap further in the bottom of the fourth inning. A leadoff single from Jake Brown, followed by another single from Luke Johnson, and Max Senesac getting hit by a pitch loaded the bases with no outs. However, the pressure proved too much as the next three batters went down in order with three straight strikeouts.
“We put ourselves in some good situations later on in that ball game when we had bases loaded with nobody out. We kept putting guys in scoring positions and not being able to capitalize on that and that’s one of the biggest things that I talked to the guys about,” said Spencer when recapping the night.
The scores remained unchanged until the top of the sixth inning when the Saints picked up two more runs. In the bottom of the seventh, Riptide first baseman Ace Reese added one more run with a sacrifice fly to bring home Rocco Gump.
The final score remained 6-3 in favor of the Saints.
Pitching efforts from the Riptide’s Arthur Liu, Ryan Kittredge, and Luis Becerra kept the game competitive after the early deficit.
The Riptide squad is looking to bounce back and secure a win in their upcoming away game on Saturday night against the Conejo Oaks.
