by Jamieson Fitzpatrick

On February 3rd, the SPC Titans baseball team (2-1) welcomed the SSC Raiders (2-2) at Jack Russell Stadium. The first pitch was thrown at 3pm with family members from both teams in attendance for the fourth game of the season.

The starting pitcher for the Titans was #34 Luke Helms, who pitched well through two innings giving the Titans a win. The only allowed run in the first inning was a fly-out to center field. This advanced #8 AJ Makarewicz on third to home to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead in the first inning. In the bottom of the first, the Titans made their presence known. #8 Christian Hammond was walked. Next up was #12 Kellen Brown who hit the ball to right field and got a double advancing Christian to second. Up to bat next was #6 Alex Hanson who was also walked. With bases loaded, #15 David Hollins hit a grand slam over the left field fence giving the Titans a 4-1 lead at the end of the 1st inning.

The second and third inning for both SSC and SPC ended with runners stranded on base and a score of 4-1. At the top of the fourth inning, the Raiders gained momentum when #19 Evan Harold, #3 Tristan Rojas, and #27 Andrew Lindsay all scored tying the game up at 4-4, heading into the bottom of the inning. The Titans responded with three runs of their own. #2 Trenton Mcghee hit a standup double into right center field advancing two runners home later in the inning after #2 Trenton Mcghee stole third base, with a pop out to center field. This gave Trenton enough space to advance home to increase the lead 7-4 heading into the fifth inning.

The fifth inning for the Raiders ended with a runner stranded on second base. The Titans then took the opportunity to bring in two more runners with a triple to right field by #32 Sam Martin. The Titans weren’t finished just yet. A passed ball by the Raiders catcher advancing the runner from third to home increased their lead even more. Once again, #2 Trenton Mcghee was up to bat to hit a two run home run. #8 Christian Hammond successfully made it to third. #12 Kellen Brown hit a single to a right field where Christian trotted home, making the Titans lead 13-4 over the Raiders.

The Raiders would not go away. In the top of the eight, the Raiders had bases loaded and a run scored when #25 Spencer Levine was walked, cutting the lead 13-5. The Titans stranded one runner on base heading into the ninth inning. The start of the inning opened up with #3 Tristan Rojas hitting a two run home run cutting the lead to 13-7. #1 Pedro Rivera for the Raiders hit a stand up triple moving another run home. The next batter hit an RBI, giving the Raiders momentum down 13-9. SPC wasn’t giving in just yet, putting #11 in to relieve. With two outs, #20 Manny Bejerano for the Raiders hit a double, driving in two more runs.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, eleven runs wasn’t enough, with a fly-out to center field, to end the game. The SPC Titans beat the SSC Raiders in a thriller with a final score of 13-11. The Titans are now (3-1) on the season, while the Raiders drop to (2-3).