SAVING THE BEST SWING FOR LAST IN THE HOME OPENER
With the game deadlocked at 14-14 in the bottom of the ninth, FC designated hitter Nate Pone blasted a walk-off grand slam to left field releasing the elated Hornets from the dugout for a wild 18-14 victory over Chaffey College Saturday afternoon.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 3 |
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1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 15 | 5 |
The home run capped off a nearly four-hour slugfest that featured 32 combined runs, 26 hits, and multiple momentum swings giving Fullerton a home-opening win in front of an energized crowd.
The Hornets are now 1-1 on the season after dropping their first game yesterday at Citrus 9-3. Taking on the loss today, the Panthers are also 1-1 beating San Diego City 8-4 on the road Thursday.
Fullerton had to dig deep early after Chaffey jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the first. The Hornets immediately began chipping away and erupted in the third using a barrage of big hits and aggressive baserunning to claw all the way back and knot the game at 7-7.
Sean Green sparked the rally with a two-run double, while Ryan Villanueva, Jake Starr, and Pone all drove in runs as Fullerton showed resilience well beyond the early deficit.
The see-saw battle continued into the late innings. Pone launched a solo homer in the fifth to give Fullerton the lead, Diego Vazquez answered with a two-run shot in the seventh, and Vinny Hudson added an RBI single as the Hornets pushed ahead 14-8.
Chaffey refused to go quietly, storming back with six runs over the final three innings to force a 14-14 tie heading into the bottom of the ninth.
With one out and two on base, Cannon Billingsley was intentionally walked. Pone stepped into the box and turned on the pitch sending it over the left-field wall for his second home run of the day. The walk-off grand slam sealed the comeback and ignited a big Hornet celebration on the field.
Pone finished the afternoon with a monster performance going 4-6 at the plate with 6 RBI and three runs scored. Diego Vazquez added 3 RBI, Green drove in 2, and Ryan Villanueva and Vinny Hudson both chipped in 2 RBI as Fullerton totaled 15 hits on the day.
On the mound, Nate Walraven tossed 3 strong innings with no earned runs and had 5 strikeouts. Matthew McCliman went 2 innings had no earned runs and 3 strikeouts. Nico Rodriguez threw a shutout inning with 3 Ks. Kaleb Fiscus got the win going 1.2 innings.
Up Next: Fullerton (1-1 overall) will play another one at home this Tuesday, January 27th when Southwestern College comes to town for a non-conference matchup. The first pitch goes out at 2:00 pm.
