(Walnut) – By John M. Sherrard –The Mounties, behind an 11-hit attack, broke a 5-5 tie in the eighth inning with four runs and defeated Citrus College Tuesday night, in a nonconference game at Mazmanian Field.
Picking up the victory was freshman pitcher David Valdivia (Claremont HS) going the final five innings in relief of starter Matt Goytia (Don Lugo HS) and retired the last 12 batters.
Valdivia (1-2) allowed only a single and struck out two Citrus (10-9) batters.
"We've been struggling with winning lately and I just wanted to go out and throw strikes," Valdivia said.
"Just getting this "W" is good for the team and for me a confidence booster."
Prior to the game, the recently crowned Mt. SAC women basketball team was honored in a pre-game ceremony as coach Brian Crichlow threw out the first ball. The Mountie women won the CCCAA state title over East LA College for their seventh time in school history.
"This was a much-needed win for us," Mt. SAC coach Kevin Smith said. The Mounties (8-12) had lost four out of the last five coming into the game.
"All in all, I thought it was our best defensive performance and we had two jacks (home runs).
"Obviously with David (Valdivia) coming in from the pen gave us a huge lift throwing zeros on the board."
The offensive star of the night was sophomore second baseman Dallas Reed (Vista Murrieta HS) with three hits, including a double and a run scored. However, two Mounties for the first time this season, belted two-run home runs.
Designated hitter Johnny Juarez (Glendora HS), who was 2 for 4, hit a 2-run homer to tie the game at 5-5 in the fifth inning and sophomore third baseman Esteban Ortega (Los Altos HS) connected with a two-run home run in the four-run Mountie eighth inning.
"It (home run) felt good," Juarez said. "It kind of surprised me a little bit. Our coach says to be ready on the 3-1 fastball."
In addition to Juarez' two hits, sophomore first baseman Matt Majher (Corona HS) and sophomore right fielder D.J. Daniels (Bishop Amat HS) also had two hits apiece.