IRVINE, Calif. – Despite outhitting Arizona Christian 14-11, the Vanguard offense left 10 men on base and the pitching staff yielded three home runs in a Tuesday morning elimination game at the Golden State Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament.
The Firestorm prevailed 10-6 to end Vanguard's season on the Great Park Stadium diamond.
Vanguard scored in five straight innings from the fourth through eighth. But the Lions had opportunities to do more damage, leaving the bases loaded in the fourth and stranding a runner in scoring position in the fifth, sixth and seventh.
The Firestorm jumped out to a 6-0 lead with two runs each in the second, third and fourth. The Lions would bite into the ACU lead, but the Firestorm matched those runs with responses in the sixth, seventh and eighth.
Three seniors were outstanding in their final games donning the Blue and Gold.
Corey Jarrell had an exceptional tournament, going 4-for-5 against the Firestorm and going 8-for-9 total over the two games. Nino Vultaggio finished 2-for-5 with three RBI, delivering a two-run shot in the eighth for his team-best ninth home run.
First baseman Antonio Omphroy was 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
The fourth Lion to post a multi-hit performance was junior shortstop Fred Buckson, who ended up 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Quincy Vassar, Jase Schueller and Jesus Munguia surrendered the combined 10 runs to ACU's offense, which got a jolt from outfielder Deshon Thomas, who hit two homers and finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI. Marques Titialii, who has worn out Lion pitching the last two seasons, also homered and went 3-for-5 with three RBI.
The Lions conclude their 2024 season 26-23, the 11th straight winning campaign under head coach Rob Pegg. The Firestorm improved to 33-18 and advanced to a second elimination game, as they will face OUAZ at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening.
What Happened?
The Lions fell into their 6-0 hole after surrendering all six runs with two outs.
Vassar had a great start, retiring the Firestorm in order in the first and the first five of the game – four on fly outs and another via strikeout.
Troy Collins laced a single to center to keep the second inning alive, opening the door for Thomas to smack a two-run homer onto the porch in left field.
In the third, Vassar set down Jaylen Edmonds and Andrew Ivy on a fly out and ground out. But Titialii doubled down the left field line, and came around on a Kane Kiaunis RBI single. Kiaunis stole second and scampered home on a Trey Tarver base hit into center, opening up a 4-0 ACU lead.
Schueller started the fourth for the Blue and Gold and quickly got the first two outs on grounders. Matthew Beckworth singled to keep the ACU inning going. Schueller struggled with his control as Edmonds and Ivy drew back-to-back walks. With the bags full of Firestorm, Titialli made the Lions pay with a hard hit single into left. Edmonds and Beckworth scored to increase the ACU advantage to 6-0.
Levi Hall pinch hit with Lions on first and second in the bottom half of the fourth, and the move paid dividends as his base hit into center scored Omphroy. The Lions later had runners on first and second, but ACU pitcher Adrian Santa Cruz retired Jarrell for the first and only time in the tournament on a fly out to right.
The Lions sliced their deficit to 6-2 in the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Noah Madole and Jarred Mazzaferro.
However, Thomas greeted Munguia with a leadoff homer in the sixth to grab the run right back.
The Lions responded with a run in the bottom half of the sixth to make it 7-3. The Lions had an opportunity to rally further, but a baserunning blunder cut down a runner leaning too far off the base at second. However, a Hall walk, followed by consecutive singles from Jarrell and Vultaggio brought home a run.
The teams traded runs again in the seventh. For the second straight inning, ACU led off with a home run – this time by Titialii, who hit a no-doubter into left center. VU responded with an Omphroy double and a Buckson RBI single.
Within 8-4, the Lions needed to put up a zero, but the Firestorm scored for the sixth time in seven innings with a two-run eighth. Thomas singled and Beckworth doubled to put runners at second and third, signaling a switch from Munguia to Jake Hiner on the mound.
Hiner walked pinch hitter Sean Garcia to load the bases, and hit another pinch hitter, Ryan Eastham, with a pitch to drive in ACU's ninth run. Kiaunis followed with a sac fly as the Firestorm upped its lead to 10-4.
In the home half of the eighth, the Lions chopped the deficit down to four as Vultaggio unloaded on a two-run blast to left center, scoring Jarrell who had led off with a single.
Dylan McDonald threw a scoreless ninth in his final Blue and Gold appearance, but the Lions went down quietly in their final at-bat with Firestorm reliever Chay Esqueda striking out the final two batters.
Santa Maria earned the win to improve to 8-4 on the season, while Vassar took the loss to drop to 2-5.
Vanguard lost its final five games and 11 of its last 13. The Lions also were 3-10 in one-run games this season.
