IRVINE, CA – After trailing 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Orange County Riptide mounted a multi-inning comeback en route to the third win of the season, defeating the San Diego Waves, 8-6, Sunday night at Great Park.
Riptide starting pitcher Jake Valenzuela held the Waves at bay early, surrendering no runs through three innings while striking out three. Valenzuela’s three innings of work marked the longest for a Riptide pitcher this season.
San Diego picked up their offensive slack quickly once Valenzuela left the game, as Riptide relief pitcher Jackson Jordan struggled, giving up four earned runs through 0.2 innings of work.
In the top of the fourth, the Waves loaded the bases off of a single and two walks. Then, leadoff hitter John Uchytil drove in two with a single up the middle.
Theo Kim, who entered the game batting .600, drove in two more with a double to right center, extending the Waves’ lead to 4-0.
The Riptide threatened quickly in the bottom of the fourth, as Noah Neufeld, Bradley Beaudreau and Dennis Fitzpatrick loaded the bases with a pair of hits and a walk – yet they came up empty.
The Waves added on to their lead in the fifth after back-to-back doubles from Kerim Orucevic and Andreas Nilsen brought it to 5-0.
Center fielder Alex Dolan singlehandedly produced the Riptide’s first run of the game. After a leadoff single, Dolan stole second. Then after a wild pitch, in which the Waves’ catcher completely lost sight of the ball, he took third then scored.
Dolan now has six stolen bases this season, which leads the California Collegiate League.
“Most of the pitchers just want to pitch,” said center fielder Alex Dolan. “[They] don’t want to pick off, so I took advantage of that. My speed definitely helps.”
OCR added another in the sixth – as Neufeld singled, then stole second and reached third on a balk. Beaudreau then brought Neufeld home with an RBI groundout, making it 5-2.
The Riptide put together a rally in the seventh, jumpstarted by a leadoff hit-by-pitch from Slater Nunez. Dolan and Justin Tillar then followed with back-to-back singles – with Tillars’ bringing in the third run and setting up the leading run at the plate.
Designated hitter Jarett Sabol struck out in his first two at bats. However, this time he made the Waves pay – smashing the Riptide’s first home run of the season and taking a 6-5 lead.
“After I struck out my second time, I was like, well I got nothing to lose anymore. I got to go up there and be aggressive,” said Sabol. “He’s probably gonna come back either with a change up or a fast ball, which he did, I took my hack at it, got the barrel out, and then let it fly.”
However, Sabol’s heroic swing quickly became a distant memory.
An error followed by back-to-back singles loaded the bases for the Waves, who then cashed in with a sacrifice fly to even the score at six.
Fitzpatrick led off the eighth inning with a double, setting up the winning run in scoring position with no outs. Nunez then drove in Fitzpatrick with an RBI single to left, giving the Riptide a 7-6 lead.
Tillar then cashed in an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to center, bringing in Nunez to make it 8-6. From there, the Riptide closed out the Waves – shutting them down quietly in the ninth.
Now 3-1, the OCR are off to the franchise’s best start since 2023. The Riptide will travel to play the Arroyo Seco Saints at Jackie Robinson Field in Pasadena on Tuesday night.
First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
