SBVC Baseball falls to Panthers in final Foothill Conference game, 8-2

SBVC Baseball falls to Panthers in final Foothill Conference game, 8-2

SBVC (19-16-1; 14-10) wrapped up the 2016 season at home against their regional rival for probably the final time for the foreseeable future, as the Rancho Cucamonga Chaffey Panthers (27-9; 21-3) took the final game of the series, 8-2.

This was the final Foothill Conference game for both teams as Chaffey will head off to the South Coast Conference where they will have to face perennial power house teams like Long Beach City and Cerritos. SBVC will move to the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference where they will have to face perennial power house teams like Grossmont and Palomar. Sadly, it is truly the end of an era because it is possible that neither team will actually go out of their way to schedule each another, in the way that SBVC hasn't played Riverside City since 2005.

SBVC would get onto the board first, scoring in the bottom of the first as sophomore third baseman and leadoff hitter David Osuna (Fontana Henry J. Kaiser) led off with an infield single, then stole second and a one out wild pitch put him at third. Osuna would come home on a single to center by sophomore short stop Gerardo Torreblanca (Fontana H.S.) giving SBVC the early 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately, the Panthers would equalize in the top of the second and then take a 5-1 lead in the top of the third. Neither team would score over the next four innings as both teams used an assemblage of relief pitchers to cobble together a decent showing.

In the bottom of the seventh, SBVC would put up one more run as freshman center fielder Billy Reyes (Yucaipa H.S.) grabbed a leadoff walk and freshman left fielder Aaron Gamez (Riverside La Sierra) punched a single to center to put runners on the corners with two out. Then sophomore right fielder Jesus Gonzalez (Rialto W.A. Carter) would reach on an error by the Panthers third baseman, as he heaved a throw towards first into the SBVC dugout, scoring Reyes.

Chaffey would score three more runs in the top of the ninth to put the game out of reach. Osuna went 3 for 5 with a run scored and Torreblanca went 2 for 4 with a run batted in. Gamez would go 2 for 2 on the afternoon.

Information, Photos & Story provided by SBVC Sports Information.