MARAUDER BASEBALL WINS SLUG FEST AGAINST LA VALLEY

Photo by Bruce Jacobsen

LANCASTER - Sometimes it's inevitable that teams get into an old fashioned, high scoring affair.

And when the dust settled Thursday afternoon, the Marauder baseball team was the last one standing as it won a see-saw battle against LA Valley College, 11-10, at Marauder Stadium.

Joseph Cochran and Frankie Linstrom led the assault on Monarch pitching with three RBI apiece. Lindstrom finished with three hits and Cochran, ranked No. 12 in the state in batting average, finished with two.

Despite being a young team, the Marauders have an abundance of talent and improved their record to 4-1 this season.

It seemed as though every time AVC would try to pull away from LA Valley (0-8), the Monarchs would respond to inch closer or tie the game.

The Marauders, which extended their winning streak to three games, trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the third inning. AVC's bats came alive and plated four runs on three hits to take a 6-4 lead. There was only one inning that the Marauders didn't score at least one run.

LA Valley tied the score 10-10 entering the bottom of the eighth inning. The Marauders were able to manufacture a run to take an 11-10 lead, which included a leadoff double by catcher Jorge Villalobos who was brought home following and RBI single by Linstrom.

Justin Rodrigues pitched a scoreless ninth inning to solidify the victory for AVC.

AVC, which is ranked No. 4 in the state in team batting average (.358), pounded out 14 hits and had four players with multiple hits, including Michael Behen, who finished with three of his own.

The Marauders will travel to LA Valley on Friday before returning home to finish up the series with the Monarchs on Saturday.