Fresno City College lost a competitive series against College of the Sequoias (COS) on March 15. The first two innings finished fairly quickly within the first 10 minutes of beginning, and neither of the teams scored.

It wasn’t until the top of the third inning when the competition started. FCC’s pitcher Zac Whittaker threw strong pitches in the field and struck out the first COS batter.

COS’s Christopher Gonzalez bunted and teamwork from Rams catcher to first baseman created the second out for the inning.  As the competition continued, a smooth catch from Rams Ian Ross finalized the inning as he quickly threw the ball to first baseman Rickie Garcia and they got COS’s Wyatt Tilley out. That ended the top of the third with no scores.

FCC started a nice play for the bottom of the third as Isaac Rivera struck the ball clear out to right field and singled. Next batter up, Fernando Guevara bunted in the direction of the pitcher and ran quickly to first base, while he was headed to first, COS’s pitcher tried to get Guevara out but he wasn’t fast enough and Guevara was safe. Ian Ross was next batter up and grounded into double play, meanwhile Guevara was out on the play ending the inning with no scores made.

The top of the fourth inning consisted of a couple of walks for COS and as the third batter up Luke Garispe struck the ball out to center field and a nice catch from FCC’s Rivera finalized the last out making the score 0-1.

Another prompt inning began with the bottom of the fourth for FCC. Chet Allison struck a ball out to right field and was out. Garcia was up next, and pitch hit him so he walked. As COS’s pitcher was preparing to pitch to Gutierrez, Garcia attempted to steal second and was noticed, and safely slid back to first. Jacob Paradine was next batter up and hit the ball clear out to left field allowing both Garcia and Gutierrez to make a score, and two more players Joey Popejoy and Paradine were out. That ended the inning with a score of 2-1.

During the beginning of the top of the fifth COS’s Christopher Gonzalez doubled. A was bunt made by Max Coyt and unfortunately FCC’s Garcia missed the ball thrown to first base, so Coyt took advantage and tripled. Both Gonzalez and Coyt scored, and Garcia stepped up his game and got the last three players out finalizing the inning with two scores made by COS.

The bottom of the fifth inning ended fairly quickly as pitcher from COS Arthur Joven got Rivera out when he grounded out to second, and Guevara struck out. Nick Sheehan was up next and walked. Ross struck out ending the inning with no scores made.

Another quick inning for the top of the sixth occurred when Rodolfo Vasquez singled and Brendon Ayres bunted. Vasquez was tagged out; Gonzalez struck a ball out to right field tallying up the outs to two. Next batter up Coyt singled, and Tilley struck out. Concluding the inning with no scores made.

During FCC’s bottom of the sixth, some excitement kicked up. Chet Allison walked; Garcia struck the ball out to center field but was out, meanwhile Allison advanced to second on a balk. Adrian Gutierrez was reached on a fielder’s choice and Allison was out on his way to third. Jacob Paradine concluded the out for the inning when his ball flew directly out to right field. No scores were made.

For COS’s top of the seventh Isaiah Espinoza struck out looking. A great catch by FCC’s Popejoy delivered to Garcia got Wallace out. The inning concluded as Garispe struck out. No scores were made.

FCC finally made a score during the bottom of the seventh inning. Popejoy doubled, and then advanced to third as Isaac Rivera’s wild bunt distracted everyone. Rivera walked; Guevara hit a ball to left field and Popejoy scored. Nick Sheehan was up next and was struck by the ball so he walked, and Rivera advanced to second. Sheehan concluded the inning, after him and Ross was out. One score was made for the seventh inning.

Zane Thompson singled for COS during the top of the eighth, then as Vasquez reached first base Thompson advanced to third. As things heated up, Thompson scored. Vasquez scored shortly afterwards in addition to Gonzalez making it a total of three scores for COS. Tilley was caught stealing and was out, Espinoza struck out and Wallace grounded out to second concluding the inning.

FCC started the bottom of the eighth inning when Allison grounded out to second base, Garcia grounded out to ss, and finally Gutierrez struck out concluding the bottom of the eighth with no scores.

COS Garispe was hit by the pitch during the top of the ninth and walked. Vasquez hit the ball out to left field and FCC’s Sheehan performed a nice catch and got Vasquez out. Garispe was the only player who scored during this inning, Tilly struck out looking and that concluded the inning.

The bottom of the ninth didn’t look too well after Paradine singled. Popejoy was up next and struck out, Rivera fouled out to first base, and Nick Sheehan struck out. That concluded the game 8-5.

Assistant Coach Eric Solberg said, “It’s a competitive series, we won the other day and today we just weren’t competitive in certain areas in the game. We just have to play better next time.”