Irvine, Calif. – The Orange County Riptide the Arroyo Seco Saints in the ninth inning of a scoreless ballgame Saturday night. Reese Chapman (Tennessee) delivered once again bringing in Nathan Cadena (San Jose St) with an RBI single.
Walk-Off Hero
(Photo Credit: Grace Pugliese)
After Cadena entered the game as a pinch-hitter and roped a double to right field, the Riptide had the bases loaded following back-to-back walks. One of the hottest hitters for head coach Connor Spencer and the Riptide in Chapman stepped up to the plate with the infield in. Looking to keep it simple and drive the runner in, Chapman poked the second pitch of the at-bat into left center field for the walk-off win.
“Were taught at Tennessee they’re basically giving you a run with the infield in,” Chapman said. “You don’t have to do too much and I just poked the ball out there.”
Pitchers Duel
The Riptide found themselves in a pitchers duel against the Saints behind another dominant pitching performance from Jack Kirrer (Cal). Kirrer followed up his last start, pitching six scoreless innings, striking out six and only allowing two hits. The six innings pitched by Kirrer is the deepest a Riptide starting pitcher has worked in a game this summer.
“I definitely wanted to be able to keep being out there for the team,” Kirrer said. “Finished the sixth inning pretty happy and was able to hand it off to Tristan”
Tristan LaMaison (Univ. of San Diego) and Curren Larson (Undecided) followed Kirrer and held the Saints offense at bay. LaMaison pitched two innings allowing no hits and striking out one. Larson earned his first win of the summer, after striking out two batters on one hit, in a scoreless top of the ninth.
The Riptide will square off against the Saints on Sunday at Jackie Robinson Field, in the final matchup before the All-Star break.
Arroyo Seco Saints vs. OC Riptide – Box