Baseball Plays April Fool’s Joke on Rival Reedley

In an attempt to get out of a three game losing streak, the Fresno City College Rams needed a win to gather some momentum for the second half of conference play, and a win against Reedley College would mean just that.

On April 1, the Rams defeated the Tigers with a walk-off double, leading to a 5-4 victory at home. This game was more than just a win for FCC, it meant the winner would take second place in conference.

The Ram’s starting pitcher Noah Parsons struggled in the first inning, letting the first two batters he faced get on base. With help from the defense, he managed to get out of the inning, but not before letting Reedley pitcher Alec Akins score an RBI single from infielder Grant Farris.

FCC answered with a tying run in the bottom of the first, when infielder Sal Esparza scored a single to center field from outfielder Nick Sheehan.

The bats went quiet after the first inning and the game became a pitching duel for the next two innings, with Parsons for the Rams and Akins for the Tigers not allowing any runs.

In the fourth inning, Parsons got into trouble when Reedley’s outfielder Chris Koutsoubos hit a single to left field allowing Farris, who was in third base, to score.

Even though the Rams found hits in the bottom of the fourth, they weren’t able to come up with any runs, and the game was 2-1 in favor of the Tigers.

Parsons left the game in the fifth inning after allowing another run by Reedley and was replaced by Kobe Portillo who also allowed one run to be scored before the inning was over bringing the score to 4-1 in favor of the Tigers.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the ninth when Akins when replaced at the mound by Joe Riley that FCC finally found themselves in position to score.

Riley began the inning getting the first batter out, but then he allowed a single to center field by infielder RJ Hartmann, walking designated hitter Nick Zamora, who was replaced at first base by base runner Bobby Clark. infielder Adam Munoz singled to center field loading the bases and putting FCC in great position to score.

After a wild pitch, Hartmann was able to score and next at-bat infielder Noah Padilla was able to hit the ball past the third baseman, allowing Clark to score.

With only one run to tie the game and two to win it, infielder Michael Beltran hit a double to center field that allowed Munoz and Padilla to score, winning the game for the Rams in a dramatic fashion.

“It sucks that we waited until the last minute to win it, but we’ll take it,” said Paradine. He also talked about Beltran’s game winning hit: “Good things happen to good people, he came up in the most clutch situation of the game and it paid off.”

“We hung in there for eight innings” said coach Ron Scott, adding, “Portillo came in and did a great job pitching, then we were able put some great at-bats together in the ninth.”

Beltran said the game was a turning point for the team and the momentum from the win will carry over for the rest of the year.

    “I was ready, I just followed my routine and got a pitch I liked, and well, you know, the rest is history,” said Beltran on his game winning hit.