By Alexandro Zatarain
Palm Springs, Calif.
The Palm Springs POWER mounted a comeback that was capped by a Brady Shockey (USC) walk-off single to get past the SoCal Bombers on Saturday night, 4-3.
Blake Kearbey (Harris Stowe) took the mound of the POWER, giving up two runs in five innings of work. The first run came in the top of the second as Bombers catcher Joel Manzano hit an RBI single with two outs on the board, bringing in first baseman Phillip Steering.
The POWER would respond in the bottom half of the inning, as an RBI single from John Mauldin (University of New Orleans) would drive in Andrew Penner (Cal State Bakersfield).
In the top of the third, the Bombers would retake the lead via a Joseph Kim sacrifice-fly driving in Austen Salcedo to take a 2-1 lead. The Bombers would add one more run in the top of the 5th thanks to a fielder’s choice by Hayden Schilling (University of New Mexico) on a grounder by Kim, bringing in Donovyn Curiel.
It was not until the bottom of the eighth where the POWER would begin chipping away at the deficit. Shockey was driven in by Schilling on a 6-5 fielder’s choice, making it a 3-2 game.
Darin May came out for the top of the ninth, striking out the side and giving the POWER an opportunity to come back from the deficit.
Jacob Felix was in for the save opportunity for the Bombers. Penner got things going with a leadoff single, followed by an RBI double by Mauldin to tie things up at three apiece.
With no outs, Kevin Mordin (UCLA) was intentionally walked to put men on first and second for the POWER. Unable to get an out in the bottom of the ninth, Felix was replaced by Adam Paulson. Shockey came up to bat and swung at the first pitch he saw, sending an opposite field liner to bring in Mauldin for the walk off.
With the win, the POWER move to 9-5 in the SCCBL, while the Bombers dropped to 4-8. Join us tomorrow night at Palm Springs Stadium for game two of a three game series against the SoCal Bombers. First pitch at 7:05pm, gates open at 6:00pm.
