SUPER REGIONAL: FULLERTON PASSES FIRST TEST VS GROSSMONT

The Baseball Hornets did what they had to do against Grossmont at Cypress College on Friday beating the Griffins 15-7 in game one of the Super Regionals.

No. 14 seeded Fullerton's (23-21 overall) victory forced No. 7 Grossmont (31-13) to play at No. 2 Cypress (34-9) later in the day for game two where the Chargers ended the Griffins season 11-9 in the double-elimination series.

The Hornets came out sharp, striking early in the top of the first thanks to Luke Viola's RBI single to center that was followed by a sacrifice fly from Hunter Billingsly. A stolen base by Jake Starr gave Viola the chance to score for a 3-0 cushion.

Grossmont clawed back in the third and fourth innings, cutting the lead to 3-2 with a pair of sacrifice plays and an RBI single. Diego Vazquez briefly stopped the bleeding for Fullerton with a solo home run in the fourth, but Grossmont clapped back again tying the game 4-4 in the fifth before grabbing a 5-4 lead on Noah Tenbrook's RBI groundout.

The momentum flipped dramatically in the sixth when Nate Pone launched a two-run homer to reclaim the lead for the Hornets. Trevor Schmidt delivered a thunderous three-run blast to cap off a five-run inning that put the Hornets up 9-5. Though Grossmont responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half, it wasn't enough to stop FC's surge.

In the eighth, Viola struck again with a two-run double to left center. The ninth inning was the final exclamation point for the Hornets when Nate Pone and Noah Rodriguez combined for three RBIs in the frame, while Schmidt drew a bases-loaded walk to complete the scoring at 15-7.

FC starting pitcher Julian Castro did an admirable job throwing for the win going 5 innings with 7 hits and 5 runs against. He also had 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Ashton McNaughton was strong on the mound earning the save going 3 innings with 3 hits against with 2 runs. He added a walk and a strikeout. Alex King closed the door in the 9^th had no hits, runs, or walks with 2 strikeouts.

Trevor Schmidt (4), Nate Pone (3), Luke Viola (3), and Noah Rodriguez (2) led the offensive explosion, combining for 12 RBI.  Fullerton's depth and power proved too much down the stretch, as they closed the game on an 11-2 run.

Up Next: The No. 14 Hornets will look to keep it going in the Super Regionals at No. 2 Cypress College when they take on the Chargers this Saturday, May 10th at 1:00 pm. The winner of this 3-game series will move on to the 3C2A SoCal Finals.

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