Delta wins two games to advance to the 3C2A Baseball Championship

GAME 5 – SAN JOAQUIN DELTA 10, WEST VALLEY 8 

WALNUT – The San Joaquin Delta College Mustangs still have a little life left in the 2024 season after surviving a long Sunday of baseball, capping things off with a 10-8 win over West Valley College in the final elimination game of the 2024 3C2A Baseball State Championship, played at Mt. San Antonio College's Mazmanian Field.

With the win, the Mustangs (36-14) will advance to Monday's championship final, where they will take on unbeaten Saddleback College (33-17) for all the marbles, beginning at 11 a.m. Delta will have to beat the Bobcats twice to claim the 2024 state crown, while the Bobcats need just one more win to pick up the title. 

Gabe Natvidad went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for the Mustangs, while Dominic Rodriguez and Blaine French each had two hits and two RBI. Mateo Garcia added a pair of hits and two runs scored. 

For the Vikings (38-14), Karter Wong went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while James Bose added two hits and scored three times. 

The Mustangs used eight different pitchers to topple WVC with reliever Drew Peters (5-2) pitching up the win and Logan Drummond earning his first save of the year, coming into the game with two West Valley runners on base with nobody out. 

The sophomore lefty came into the fire and calmly struck out the first batter he faced before coaxing a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

Delta earned the win with steady offense throughout the game, scoring runs in five of the first six innings played to grab a 10-6 advantage. 

After the Vikings rallied to tie the game up at 6 in the fourth inning, Natvidad launched a solo home run to left to give the lead back to the Mustangs, 7-6. A two-run double off the bat of French and a sacrifice fly by Braeden Schnabel capped off a three-run sixth for the Mustangs, extending their lead to 10-6.

West Valley pulled to within a pair in the top of the seventh and had multiple runners on base in the eighth and ninth innings but could not pull any closer.

The Mustangs are in search of their fourth state title in school history and their first since 2018. A Saddleback win would give the Bobcats their first state title since 2004.