CHAFING CHAFFEY

The Hornets had their home opener on Saturday afternoon against Chaffey College and pulled off a walk-off victory over the Panthers 13-12.

It was a good win for Fullerton after dropping the 2025 opener on Friday at Chaffey 16-7. Both, the Hornets and Panthers are now 1-1 on the young season.

The Hornets fell behind early and were chasing 8 runs (12-4) heading into the bottom of the seventh. Trevor Schmidt helped get the scoring going for Fullerton coming home on a wild pitch. Jake Starr then knocked a singled to left center scoring Noah Rodriguez and Hunter Billingsley.

Down 12-7 heading into the bottom of the 9th, Jake Starr struck again plunking a shot to left field that plated Diego Vazquez. Nate Pone got on from a Panther throwing error that also gave Starr the chance to go home. With two outs and the bases loaded, Schmidt came up doubling to left center bringing Dillon Anderson and Luke Viola home. Anderson tied the game 12-12 sprinting across on a wild pitch. With a 0-2 count, Vazquez was clutch at the plate ripping a single up the middle scoring pinch-runner Jacob Larson for the Hornet victory.

There were 22 total hits between both teams with Fullerton leading the way 13-9.

Trevor Schmidt was 3-4 with 3 runs and 3 RBI. Erik Polanco and Diego Vazquez both went 2-3 with a run and RBI. Jake Starr was 3-5 with a run and 3 RBI. 

Winning pitcher Peyton Lee (1-0) locked down his first win of the season tossing an inning with 1 hit against and 1 strikeout.

Up Next: Fullerton (1-1 overall) travels down the 5 Freeway to Southwestern College on Tuesday, January 28th for a non-conference game. The first pitch goes out at 1:00 pm.