The Santa Rosa Junior College baseball team pulled off a gutsy win in a back-and-forth game that ended with an extra innings walk-off against Sierra College at home on Thursday.
With the win, the Bear Cubs are now 23-1 on the season. Despite being out hit 10-6, SRJC took advantage of three errors by Sierra.
“I’m going to be as honest as I can be, they outcompeted us,” assistant coach Tom Francois said. “We were lucky to win this freaking game.”
Freshman pitcher Wyatt Abramson got the Bear Cubs off to a good start on the mound, throwing three perfect innings with no runs, walks or hits and three strikeouts.
Sierra starter Cam Staton matched Abramson through the first three innings before getting into trouble in the bottom of the fourth.
Staton loaded the bases on a hit batter and two walks with two outs, before hitting freshman shortstop Brett Neidlinger with a pitch to bring home a run.
Freshman third baseman Caze Derammelaere popped up to shallow center field and Wolverines center fielder Landon Vetter dropped the ball, allowing all three runners to score.
Still without a hit, the Bear Cubs took a 4-0 lead. “Man, that’s just pure luck and bad luck for them,” Francois said.
Sophomore pitcher Brice Cox took over for Abramson and pitched clean fourth and fifth innings. Freshman Caleb Okada came in for Cox in the sixth inning and immediately ran into trouble.
Okada allowed a double, hit batter and single to the first three hitters to load the bases. He got one out on a fielder’s choice before allowing a two-run single to trim the lead to 4-2.
Freshman pitcher Raul Valdivia came on to try to clean up the mess and quickly got the second out, before allowing two hits and two walks to lose the lead, with Sierra going up 5-4.
Valdivia managed to induce a pop-up for the third out to strand the bases loaded.
The Bear Cubs wasted no time getting back in the game, tying it up in the bottom of the sixth when freshman left fielder Anane Wilson launched a solo shot that hooked around the right field foul pole.
Valdivia managed to settle in after the rough sixth inning and dominated Sierra for the next three, heading into extra innings.
“I just had to dig really deep and just trust myself, and after that first inning I really just locked in, and I just trusted [pitching coach Jared Noonan’s] pitch calling and my defense behind me,” Valdivia said.
Wolverines relievers Sebastian Edwards and Jake Davis matched Valdivia going into the 11th inning.
Freshman pitcher Evan Sandoval took over in the top of the 11th and quickly lost the lead, allowing a double and single to give Sierra a 6-5 lead. He settled in and got two strikeouts to escape the jam, but the Bear Cubs would need to come through in the bottom of the inning to stay alive.
They responded almost immediately when sophomore second baseman Joe Brown led off with a towering solo shot to tie the game 6-6.
The Bear Cubs kept up the momentum, getting runners to second and third after Wilson walked, Neidlinger was hit by a pitch again, and Derammelaere laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners.
Sophomore Mason Cox pinch hit for sophomore catcher Cameron Duran and popped a ball up into short right field that was misplayed by the second baseman. Freshman Shane Moran, who pinch ran for Wilson, got into a rundown and ultimately scored the winning run, giving the Bear Cubs the 7-6 walk-off win.
“That last inning is what good teams do,” Francois said. “You saw the energy with those guys, they just didn’t want to lose.”
After taking the first two games of the series, SRJC will look for the sweep at Sierra on Saturday.
Therese Jennings • Mar 23, 2025 at 8:58 am
What a game that was!!! So grateful we got to see it all up close!!
Very written article by Oliver Kindt, accompanied by excellent photography by Yna Bollock!
Great sports coverage OakLeaf!!
Great teamwork, Bear Cubs Baseball!!