Mt San Antonio advances at state tournament with extra-inning defeat of Sierra College 4-3
| Final (11) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
WALNUT – The Mt. San Antonio College Mounties earned a trip to the state semifinals with a 4-3, 11-inning win over Sierra College in Game 1 of the 2025 3C2A Baseball State Championship on Saturday, at Mt. SAC's Mazmanian Field.
With the win, the Mounties (43-6) will take on the winner of the Cypress/West Valley game, (which takes place later tonight) on Sunday, beginning at 2 p.m. The loss sends the Wolverines (33-15) to an elimination game on Sunday at 10 a.m. against the loser between the Chargers and Vikings.
In the bottom of the 11th inning, the Mounties used "small ball" to their advantage. After Terrell Jackson led off with a walk, Noah Rodriguez used a perfect bunt attempt to safely reach first and moved Jackson into scoring position. The next batter, Brian Bradshaw, copied Rodriguez and laid a great bunt up the third-base line. Bradshaw beat the low throw to first, and when the ball got away, Jackson scampered all the way around with the winning run.
Mt. SAC jumped on Sierra starter Cam Staton in the bottom of the first, using an RBI-double by Tyler Stull and an RBI-single by Diego Ortiz to grab an early 2-0 lead.
Sierra took advantage of a Mountie error in the top of the fourth and evened the contest at 2, courtesy of an RBI-double off the bat of Jake Redding and an RBI-single by Kimo Wilinski.
That would be it for the offense from both teams as Staton and Mt. SAC starter Izeah Muniz kept the opposition in check. Staton went seven strong innings, holding the Mounties to two runs on seven hits with two walks and a eight strikeouts. Muniz threw eight innings and held Sierra to two runs (both unearned) on five hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.
Ortiz went 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI to lead the way for the Mounties. Wilinski finished the afternoon going 2-for-2 with an RBI.
(Tony Altobellli, CCCSIA)
