By Marc Anthony Martinez
After surprising Palomar College last week in the regional round of the playoffs, the Huskies lost a double-header eliminating them from the playoffs.
The games were both played at Fullerton College on Hornet Field on Thursday.
In the first game they played against L.A. Valley College and lost 16-1.
They had another chance to stay in the playoffs against Fullerton College in the second game.
They lost to Fullerton 9-4.
In the first game, catcher/first baseman Michael Easter hit a home run for their only run of the game.
The offense made four hits.
The Huskies had two innings where they gave up six runs in each.
Starting pitcher Francisco “Paco” Dominguez threw two innings, giving up eight runs and six hits.
This made the score 8-0 by the second inning.
“It just wasn’t meant for me today. They kept finding holes,” Dominguez said about his performance in the first game.
He also said he would’ve gone in for the second game against Fullerton if they needed him too.
Julian Hernandez was put in the game to pitch for the Juskies afterward.
He was in for four innings and gave up six hits and two runs, making it 10-1 at the end of six innings.
Eduardo Sanchez pitched one scoreless inning in the seventh inning.
Pitcher Harper Taylor went in for the eighth inning for the Huskies, giving up four hits and six runs.
The Huskies made five errors in the game, and L.A. Valley was able to capitalize on them.
Despite losing the first game to L.A. Valley, the Huskies were ready to play the second game against Fullerton College.
Their Assistant Coach Phillip Valdez said, “I still felt we were in a very good spot.”
They were in the same situation last week when they faced Palomar, and ended up getting the win.
Valdez said, “They seem to play better with their backs against the walls.”
Having to play another game, the Huskies still had a chance to continue their run in the playoffs and advance to the next game.
Julian Eskridge, the right fielder for the Huskies, took the time between games to spend time with his family to regroup and relax.
He said he knew what they had to do in the next game and that they had to focus on winning every inning from now on.
In the second game against Fullerton, it took four innings before any runs were scored.
Fullerton scored first at the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Huskies took the lead in the sixth inning making it 4-1, but it didn’t take long for Fullerton to score, making it 4-3 Huskies.
In the bottom of the sixth, Huskies pitcher Robert Banuelos threw the ball to center field.
The second baseman couldn’t catch it in order to tag out right fielder Isaiah Marquez, which led to two runs scored.
Fullerton scored five more runs in the next two innings and won the game.
Emiliano Campos, the Huskies third baseman, tried to keep them in the game with two outs, two balls, two strikes and two men on base in the ninth inning, but ended up striking out.