Maldonado Shuts the Door

Citrus College grabbed its fourth straight win, beating Victor Valley College 17-10. The Owls improve to 17-17, while the Rams fall to 6-26. 

Citrus had 16 hits in the game from seven different batters. Jaden St. Cyr led the Owls with a (4-for-5) performance from the plate, adding two RBIs and scoring four runs. Connor Green went (3-for-5) from the plate with three RBIs and scored two runs. Nathan Hellein also went (3-for-5) from the plate with two RBIs and scored two runs.

Victor Valley jumped out to a 7-2 lead after two innings of play before Citrus batters found their rhythm. In the bottom of the third, the Owls exploded with a five-run inning of their own, tying the game up 7-7. The Owls added another run in the fourth, taking their first lead of the game 8-7.

Citrus pitching continued to struggle in the fifth as they gave the lead right back to the Rams with a three-run inning, making the score 10-7. The Owls responded with a four-run inning on two hits as the Rams struggled with errors, and Citrus reclaimed the lead 11-10.

In the sixth inning, the Owls called upon Jonathan Maldonado to take control of the game. Maldonado did just that as he pitched four innings, giving up one hit, striking out four batters, and allowing zero runs. A huge strikeout by Maldonado to end the top of the sixth fired the Owls up and shifted the momentum of the game.

The Owls offense began to extend their lead as they scored four more runs in the sixth and another run in the seventh, taking a 17-10 lead and never looking back. 

The Owls will be back in action on Tuesday, April 16th, as they travel to Glendale College for a Western State South Conference matchup. First pitch is set for 2:20 p.m.