PASADENA, CA — As the 2025 California Collegiate League (CCL) season has begun to fade into the postseason, the MLB Academy Barons (11-19) commandeered an important win over the hosting Arroyo Seco Saints (14-16) Sunday night at Jackie Robinson Field by way of a 7-5 final score. 

Neither team’s pitchers were particularly sharp as a high number of baserunners put pressure on those taking the mound Sunday night. With that being said, the Barons did a solid job of driving in their baserunners with consistent, timely hitting; the Saints did not do as good a job. 

“We gave up probably more than our fair share of hits tonight early on, especially with a couple of homers,” said Saints Pitching Coach Aaron Treloar regarding his staff’s performance. “I would like us to get ahead [in the count] a lot better and put [their hitters] in less positions to swing the bat the way that they want to.” 

As Coach Treloar mentioned, the Barons pounded a few long balls, paving the way to their seven-run output. Tommy Goodin (Vanderbilt), Jason Del Villar (Cal State Monterey Bay) and Alejandro Torres (Transfer Portal) all tallied home runs in Sunday night’s contest. 

However, the Barons did not dominate the game for all nine innings. The Saints exploded for three runs in the second inning thanks to a two-RBI double from Joey Milto (Transfer Portal) and an RBI single from Jacob Freer (Azusa Pacific). The Saints led 3-0 after the first two innings thanks to the aforementioned two hits and Nathan Huy’s (UC San Diego) pitching prowess. 

The Barons went on to tie the game in the third inning as both Goodin and Del Villar swatted back-to-back home runs (a two-run home run and a solo home run, respectively). 

After Barons starter Joel Tornero (Azusa Pacific) was pulled after three innings of work, the Saints jumped back on top as Noah Williams (Transfer Portal) crossed the plate on a passed ball. 

Huy tossed a scoreless fourth inning and was done shortly thereafter. Huy left Saints reliever Joseph Estrada (Lewis-Clark State College) with a 4-3 lead, but Arroyo Seco’s one-run advantage did not last long. Del Villar drove in his second run of the game on a double, tying the game up at four runs per side after five innings. 

In the visiting half of the sixth, the Barons took a 7-4 lead courtesy of Torres’ solo shot, Goodin’s RBI single and Nathan Williams crossing the plate on a wild pitch. 

As the game went on, Arroyo Seco’s arms began to tire after various long at-bats, forcing the Saints’ pitchers to pitch deep into the count. 

“We were probably at about a 50 percent [strike-to-ball ratio] as a whole staff this week, which is not good at all,” Coach Treloar shared. “The deeper the counts get, the more pitches the hitters are going to see from you. You can see [how that impacts the game] as there were more home runs and more quality contact.” 

The Saints refused to go down without a fight, however, as Freer accumulated another RBI base knock, pushing the score to 7-5 in favor of the Barons. Freer has been swinging a hot stick recently and spoke about his success postgame. 

“I am just trying to do a job and get on base,” Freer said bluntly. “You have to find a way to do a job at any spot in the order, whether it is at the top of the lineup or at the bottom. It is the same mentality [at the top of the order]; maybe with two strikes, I try and look for fastballs away, but 0-0, 1-0 counts, I am taking hacks.” 

In the final three innings, the scoreboard remained at 7-5 as both sides were unable to muster any more offense. The Saints’ best chance to try and at least tie the game came in the eighth inning, as the bases were loaded with one out as Jax Ryan approached the batter’s box. He seared a ground ball to third base, but Williams made a solid defensive play, starting a clean 5-2-3 double play to put a cap on any chance of an Arroyo Seco comeback. 

As the CCL playoffs loom large on both the Barons’ and Saints’ minds, every win becomes more and more crucial. The Saints are all but in the playoffs, but the Barons mathematically have a chance to swipe the final CCL South Division playoff spot away from Arroyo Seco. 

The Saints will look to get back in the win column against the Barons Tuesday night at MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton at 6:05 p.m. 

Contributors:

• Saints reporter Tyler Bowne (San Diego State)
• Saints photographer Carina Sanchez (California State University Los Angeles)