Pasadena, Calif. – The Orange County Riptide defeated the Arroyo Seco Saints 10-1 in Sunday nights game behind a dominant pitching performance from Santa Clara left-hander Cade Connolly and Uconn outfielder T.C. Simmons‘ home run outbreak. After totalling 15 hits in Sunday’s contest, the Riptide are now 2-3 against the Saints through five games, and 20-15 overall this summer.
Connolly left the Saints offense stunned as he allowed only three hits and no runs through five innings of work, while striking out two of the 18 Saints batters he faced. Connolly’s performance on the mound set the tone for the Riptide as they took an early lead and never looked back.
It was a pitcher’s duel for the majority of the game as there were only two runs scored between both teams within the first five innings. After returning to the top of the order for the Riptide in the third inning, a walk from Davis Diaz (Vanderbilt) and three consecutive singles from Austin Kryszczuk (UNLV), T.C. Simmons, and Gavin Haimovitz allowed Orange County’s first two runs to score.
UConn outfielder T.C. Simmons hits his team-leading fourth home run during his huge performance in the month of July. (Photo Credit: Alina Nelson)
Connolly continued to deal through the fourth and fifth inning which allowed the Riptide to tack on a few more insurance runs in the sixth. After a leadoff double from USC infielder Emilio Rosas and a walk from Georgia outfielder Dwight Allen, Diaz tallied his second hit of the game which resulted in an error by the Saints right fielder that caused Rosas and Allen to score. Once Diaz reached third base after the opponent’s fielding error, Dartmouth outfielder Kolton Freeman notched himself an RBI single. Following Freeman’s RBI single, Simmons continued to be a threat at the plate as he hit his team-leading fourth home run of the summer. All of Simmons’ home runs have come in the month of July and all four of them have occurred within the last seven games he has played in.
Nathan Cachu (Louisiana State University, Shreveport) made his Riptide debut as he came into relieve Connolly in the sixth inning. He allowed three hits and one run in three innings of work after he allowed three consecutive two-out singles allowing the Saints to score their first run in the eighth inning.
After Allen started things off with a single in the seventh inning, Orange County didn’t show any signs of mercy as Diaz followed with a double that resulted in Allen scoring. Simmons’ slugging streak continued as he tallied his fourth hit and fourth RBI of the game when he smashed a double that allowed Diaz and Kryszczuk to score the Riptide’s ninth and tenth run of the night.
UC San Diego right handed pitcher Ethan Holt came into the game in the ninth to close things out for Orange County. Following a fielding error by the Riptide, Arroyo Seco notched their second run of the game after allowing an RBI single with one out in the ninth inning. After forcing a double play to end the game, Holt finished the game with two hits allowed, one unearned run scored, and one strikeout through the six batters he faced.
The Orange County Riptide will face off against the San Luis Obispo Blues on Tuesday, July 27th. Catch the sixth and final matchup between these two teams this summer at 6:00 PM PDT at Sinsheimer Park.
OC Riptide vs Arroyo Seco Saints – Box Score
