The San Bernardino Valley College baseball team came back from a seven-run deficit and then scored twice in the tenth inning to knock off College of the Desert on Thursday in a battle atop the Inland Empire Athletic Conference.
Desert broke a 10-10 tie in the top of the extra inning, but the Wolverines came right back in the bottom half of the inning. Pinch-hitter Ryan Callanan led off with a walk, and Jose Ramirez hit a ball that bounded over third base for a double, advancing Callanan to third. After Nathan Campos-Jaramillo struck out, Alexander Jurado - in his first at-bat of the game - nubbed a ball that settled between the mound and plate. Callanan slid in before a tag to tie the game, with Ramirez settling at third and Jurado taking second on the play. Justin Robles drew a walk, but Luis Martinez-Gomez struck out looking for the second out. Ignacio Zamora came up and bounced a ball down the third base line that Spencer Dickinson knocked down behind the bag, but he was unable to corral it in time to get the force out at third, scoring Ramirez to win the game.
SBVC fell behind 1-0 after the top of the first, but that didn't last long, as Zamora launching a ball over the white line in left field to tie the game after an inning. The Wolverines took the lead in the third, as Jason Lopez lined a triple down the right field line, scoring Edward Aldama and Martinez.
But the Roadrunners took over in the fifth, scoring four times to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead. Then Desert took advantage of SBVC mistakes to score four more - three unearned - in the sixth to take a 10-3 lead.
The Wolverines began their comeback in the bottom half of the sixth. Melchor Flores led off with a double to right center, and Guillermo Velasco was hit by a pitch. Ramirez reached on a fielder's choice, as Velasco was erased at second base. Jaramillo followed with a single to score Flores. Ramirez and Flores moved up 90 feet on a ground out by Anthony (A.J.) Mico. Aldama legged out an infield single to score Ramirez. Martinez singled home Jaramillo, then Zamora singled home Aldama to make it 10-6 after six.
SBVC tied it in the seventh thanks to the a similar start as they had the previous inning. Flores doubled and Velasco walked. This time, Ramirez reached on an infield single to load the bases. Jaramillo doubled home Flores and Velasco to chase reliever Matthew Sapakoff after four batters. Marco Calderon came in and got Mico to strike out, but Aldama's grounder to second was misplayed, allowing Ramirez to score and tie the game, setting up the extra inning battle.
Jacob Castaneda pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief, shutting down Desert over the final three-plus innings. He gave way to Jason Lopez after facing one batter in the tenth, leaving Lopez to pick up his first win of the season.
Zamora ended the game 3-for-6 with the home run and three runs batted in. Flores had three hits - all doubles - in six at bats and two runs scored. Jaramillo was 2-for-5 with three RBI, and Ramirez was 3-for-5 with three runs scored.
