Irvine Valley's baseball team battled and rallied throughout its game at Long Beach City on Thursday afternoon.
But it still wasn't quite enough.
After tying the game at 6-6 with a run in the top of the ninth inning, the Lasers saw Matthew Pinal hit a two-run, walk-off home run to lift Long Beach City to a 8-6 victory.
Irvine Valley's record slipped to 1-4 overall, while Long Beach City improved to 6-1.
The Vikings, ranked No. 11 in Southern California, held a 1-0 lead after scoring a run in the bottom of the third inning.
But the Lasers stormed back to take the lead in the top of the fifth, scoring five runs.
With the bases loaded, sophomore right fielder Dane Nakatsuka was hit by a pitch to bring in freshman second baseman David Dorado.
The next batter, sophomore third baseman Dante Faicchio, hit a grand slam to put Irvine Valley in front, 5-1.
The Vikings came back in the bottom of the fifth with two runs. Zach Rivas had a two-run single.
Diego Altamirano had an RBI double to center field in the seventh inning to make it a 5-4 game and then in the bottom of the eighth, Bryan Sanders came through with a two-RBI single to give Long Beach City a 6-5 lead.
Irvine Valley didn't go away, however. Freshman first baseman Casey Kudell hit a triple and then scored on a balk to tie things at 6.
In the bottom of the ninth, Altamirano reached on walk, and then Pinal homered to right field to give the Vikings the win.
Sophomore shortstop Robert Haw, Kudell and Dorado each had two hits in the game for Irvine Valley. Kudell had a double and a triple.
Haw took the loss on the mound, going 1.2 innings and allowing three runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Freshman Dallas Carpenter started on the mound and went five innings, giving up three runs on 10 hits and one walk with one strikeout.
Long Beach City had 16 hits on the day. The Vikings were paced by Jake Creamer, who was 3 for 5 and Sanders, who went 2 for 5 with three RBI.
Irvine Valley plays again on Friday, hosting LA Valley at 2 p.m.
