Mission Rallies and Again Upstages Valley in 8-8 Tie

The Mission College baseball team is forced to play its home games at Valley College because it doesn’t have a home field.

“We work together and try to schedule things to accommodate each other,” Valley Coach Chris Johnson said.

Johnson, however, forgot about a Mission home game against Antelope Valley last month and wound up canceling practice. The disbelieving Valley players were left to watch the Mission game from the bleachers.

Many of the Monarch players were similarly incredulous Wednesday after watching their 7-0 lead turn into an 8-7 deficit in a nonconference game against Mission at Valley. But Valley rallied in the bottom of the ninth to forge an 8-8 tie before the game was stopped because of darkness at the end of the inning.

Valley (4-9-2) erupted for seven runs in the first two innings against Mission starter Nino Romo. The Monarchs sent nine batters to the plate in a five-run first inning. Designated-hitter E. J. Pape hit a two-run home run in the second inning to give Valley a 7-0 lead.

“I was having trouble,” Romo said, “My pitches were up early in the game and (Valley) kept on hitting them. I just had to relax and do a good job.”

He did. Romo stayed in the game and pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings while his Mission teammates added four runs in the third, two in the fifth and one each in the sixth and seventh, to take an 8-7 lead before giving way to reliever Jose Garcia.

“You’ve got to give (Romo) credit,” Johnson said. “Not a lot of guys can hang in there after giving up seven runs.”

Mission (8-5-1), however, was not able to hang on to its one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth.

Ed Aguilar was hit by a pitch to start Valley’s ninth and Mike Osment, running for Aguilar, scored on back-to-back singles by Steve Ross and John Stephens (three for three).

Ross and Stephens advanced to second and third with nobody out, but Nick Lymberpoulos, the fourth Mission pitcher of the game, came in to retire the next three batters, two on strikeouts.

Eddie Chavez and Jesse Romero went two for four for Mission. Chavez belted two doubles and knocked in three runs and Romero had a single and a double.