Cate baseball pulled out a thrilling 7-5 victory over Nordhoff on Thursday at home.
Heading into the bottom of the sixth inning down 3-0, the Rams offense woke up to the tune of a whopping seven runs after being held scoreless until that point.
Alek Ke and Andrew Tanner kicked off the scoring as they each roped two-RBI singles to put Cate out in front 4-3.
However, the Rams weren’t done there, as a two-RBI base knock from Noah Casbarro and a run-scoring single by Peter Lehman expanded the lead out to 7-3.
They needed that insurance, as Nordhoff scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but Cate’s Josh Butler closed the door to clinch the comeback win.
Lehman started the game for the Rams and went 6 ⅔ innings allowing just three hits along the way.
“What a thriller,” Cate coach David Soto said. “We learned a lot about our team today and I’m so proud of the heart we showed. That grit will be needed later on in the year and even beyond baseball.
“This is a scrappy group of ballplayers. We have a long way to go still but games like this are going to be great for us moving forward.”
The Rams will be on Spring Break in the coming weeks and will resume play on Thursday, Mar. 21 against Ojai Valley.
Ventura 4, San Marcos 3 (F/8)
The Royals dropped their second matchup of the week to the Cougars in walk-off fashion on the road on Thursday.
Erik Perez was on the mound for the majority of the game, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out seven batters in seven innings. Mason Crang earned a pair of outs in the seventh.
Steven Bradley and Crang led the Royals’ offense with two hits apiece, with Bradley scoring twice and Crang crossing home plate once.
Perez also had a pair of RBIs while Landon Johnson and Jaxx Satterfield each tallied a base hit. Johnson drove in the third run of the game for San Marcos.
The Royals (1-6, 0-2 Channel League) will look to shake off the slow start against rival Dos Pueblos on the road on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
Pacifica 2, Dos Pueblos 1
The Chargers fell in a pitchers’ duel against Pacifica on the road on Thursday.
Lukas Ginder got the start for Dos Pueblos, allowing one unearned run while collecting three strikeouts.
Offensively, Jesse Di Maggio and Aden Blaney each had two hits while the lone run was driven in by Xander Hajda.
The Chargers (4-4, 1-1 Channel League) will host San Marcos on Tuesday.
