IRVINE, Calif – The Orange County Riptide were two outs away from winning their home regular season finale; however, they failed to slam the door, falling 7-6 to the Arroyo Seco Saints on Saturday at Great Park.
With two outs in the ninth, the Riptide closer Kaden Starr, who looked to collect his first save of the year, received a rude awakening. With an out left to get, the bats came alive for the Saints.
Center fielder Brody Chyr, with a base knock into center field, drove both second baseman Dylan Immel and first baseman Owen Mangini in to start the rally. Shortstop Brayden Flores, who went 3 for 4, collected his first RBI of the game off a single, which sent Chyr home for the game-winning run for the Saints.
“It always hurts to lose, especially in that fashion,” head coach Bryan Evans said. Had the chance to win the ball game and couldn’t get it done.”
Small ball and timely hitting helped the Saints get on the board first. After Flores and left fielder Evan Reiter led off the game with back-to-back singles, right fielder Canon King came up big and sent both runners home via a two-out single for an early 2-0 lead.
It took a few frames for the Riptide offense to get rolling. The bottom of the fourth is where the offense ignited.
Catcher Ian Nguyen capitalized on a bases-loaded opportunity and cleared the bases with a double to left-center field, giving Orange County a 3-2 lead.
The Riptide carried the momentum over into the next frame. Designated hitter Tatum Marsh singled up the middle, which brought home center fielder Trajan Rogowski for the two-run lead.
After Orange County took a 5-2 lead in the sixth, the Saints made a push in the late innings. In the top of the seventh, Mangini doubled, driving in King to start the rally. Catcher Nick Nashiwsa then followed with a sac-fly to center, bringing home Mangini, narrowing the Riptide lead to one.
In the bottom of the eighth, the CCL South’s No. 1 seed doubled the advantage after Rogowski sent Nguyen home on a single.
The Riptide improved to 26-16 on the season, and closed out the season series with a 3-3 record against the Saints.
Orange County closes out the regular season at home with a 21-8 record, a significant improvement from last year’s 14-7 home record.
Orange County will now head up north and close out the regular season with a matchup against the San Luis Obispo Blues on Sunday afternoon.
First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
