Harbor’s Season Ends With Crushing Blow, 11-10

Just when it appeared that Harbor College was in position to defend its state community college baseball title, Pat Huston stepped in and ruined it all.

The Pierce third baseman slammed a three-run 10th-inning home run off reliever Rene Lopez to erase David Jund’s similar effort and give the Brahmas an 11-10 Southern California Regional victory over the Seahawks at Harbor. Harbor, which stayed alive by beating Citrus earlier, finished 35-9.

Pierce (25-13) will play Cypress in the final at 11 a.m. today at Harbor.

Pierce tied the score in the eighth, but trailed, 10-8, heading into the bottom of the 10th. Lopez (2-1), the Seahawks’ fourth pitcher, was rolling along.

“Rene hadn’t thrown too many games for us this year, but he’s a gamer and he had performed for us in the past,” Harbor Coach Tony Bloomfield said. “We got beat by their best guy and that’s all there is to it.”

Lopez and Rodney Garcia each had three of the Seahawks’ 15 hits, but when starter Tom Fulkerson went out in the seventh, two successive relievers were unable to contain the Brahmas.

Harbor wasted three, three-run leads, stranded 13 runners and left the bases loaded in the seventh and eighth. Moreover, Seahawk pitchers allowed Pierce leadoff men to reach base in seven of 10 innings.

After Pierce struck for two first-inning runs, Harbor responded with one in third and took the lead with a five-run fourth. Dale Johnson’s two-run homer was the big hit, while Ricky Gutierrez and Mark Lewis contributed run-scoring singles.

But the Brahmas fought back each time and tied the score with a three-run eighth. After catcher Robert Lewis tagged out the potential go-ahead run, words were exchanged and both benches emptied before order was restored.

Lopez led off the Seahawks’ half of the 10th with a single to right. One out later, first baseman Lund put the Seahawks ahead with his 410-foot home run over the center-field fence.

Lopez retired the first Pierce batter in the 10th, but Mike Vanacore singled and Joe Arnold walked. Huston, who just missed a seventh-inning homer, then belted a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right-center to give the Brahmas the victory.

“I was just looking to get a good pitch and swing aggressively,” said Huston, who was drafted by the Chicago Cubs last year. “I didn’t know it was gone as soon as I hit it, but it wasn’t long after that. It just felt so good. It’s hard to explain it.”

David Birdt (5-0) earned the victory.

In the first game, two hits each by Gutierrez, Ernie Jaramillo and Robert Lewis supported Carey Lundstrom’s eight-hit, six-strikeout performance as the Seahawks defeated Citrus, 6-2.