IRVINE, CA – The Arroyo Seco Saints faced the Orange County Riptide on Tuesday night at The Great Park for the CCL South Wildcard game.  

In their previous matchups, the Saints and Riptide split wins and losses. The most recent game the two teams played against one another; the Saints outscored the Riptide 7-2.  

The Saints coaching staff chose the two-way player, Cody Turner (Lee University), to start on the mound for Arroyo Seco.  

Coming into the game, Jackson Reed (Seattle University) mentioned that “we knew we just needed to come up and be aggressive.” 

In the top half of the first inning, Reed was able to get on base with a single. However, he was eventually caught stealing at second base, leaving the score at 0-0.  

Turner shut down the Riptide in the bottom half of the first with a 1-2-3 inning and two strikeouts. Through the next two innings, both teams were scoreless with strong pitching from Turner and Riptide’s starting pitcher Michael Ersplamer (Stanford). Reed also had an impressive diving catch out in left field to keep the score knotted at 0-0.  

Jacob Freer (Azusa Pacific) started the momentum for the Saints with a base hit. Trotter Enright (Long Beach State) walked and Reed followed with an RBI single to put the Saints on the board. Turner also added an RBI groundout to get Enright across the plate.  

The Riptide continued to go scoreless against Turner in the fourth inning, and the Saints still led the game 2-0.  

The Saints couldn’t extend their lead in the fifth and only left one on base because of a hit by pitch. Orange County started to chip away at the Saints’ lead with a few base hits and then an RBI single from Riley Hunsaker (California Baptist University). Another run was scored due to a throwing error by the Saints and Bradley Navarro (Utah) put up an RBI single, taking the lead for the Riptide.  

At the top of the sixth inning, the Saints were able to tie the game at 3-3 with an RBI single from Turner. In the Riptide’s half of the inning, Reid Montgomery (Long Beach State) was able to drive in a run with an RBI single. The Riptide earned another run off a fielder’s choice and Jack Salmon (University of Nevada Las Vegas) was able to cross the plate off a throwing error.  

Orange County stayed in the lead with six runs to four through the seventh inning. However, the Saints took a hold of the lead in the eighth inning with a 2-run RBI single from Turner. Levi Maddela (transfer portal) was able to get on base off an error and get a run across the plate.  

With the Saints leading the game 7-6, Orange County was looking to get at least one more run on the board before the final inning, but they couldn’t get anyone across the plate.  

In the final inning of the game, the Saints had two on base when Enright grounded out to bring in Snyder. The Riptide tried to take a hold of the game in the ninth, but Jordan Townley (Cal State San Marcos) came into the game to secure the win for the Saints 8-6.  

Offensively, the Saints had a total of eight hits and seven RBIs. The Saints’ pitching staff had a total of 11 strikeouts on the night, with seven of those strikeouts from Turner.  

After his outstanding performance against the Riptide, Turner said that “it felt great to be able to contribute on both ends.”  

Turner not only excelled on the mound, but also at the plate with four RBIs. Reed also had a great game against the Riptide with four hits on the night.   

In a post-game interview, Reed shared what it was like to have such a back-and-forth wildcard game and the Saints showing great resilience.  

“It’s honestly just such a fun feeling to be able to be around guys like that and be around a team that doesn’t get knocked down easily,” Reed said. “It’s really just an exciting thing to see as you’re coming into the wildcard and the playoffs.” 

With their win against the Riptide, the Saints advance to the CCL South Division Championship. The matchup is set against the one-seed Conejo Oaks and will be played at Sparky Anderson Field at 4:30 p.m. PST on Wednesday.  

Contributors:

• Saints reporter Taylor Dowdy (Arizona)
• Saints photographer Bella Calagna (Trinity)