Stevens Rescues Antelope Valley in the 10th, 10-9

Brian Stevens of Antelope Valley College struggled at the plate through the first nine innings of Saturday’s game against Mission College.

Although the Marauders had scored runs in bunches earlier, Stevens had not hit the ball out of the infield when he dug in against reliever Josh Brown in the 10th inning.

“When I came to bat the last time, I felt trapped,” said Stevens, a freshman shortstop from Tehachapi. “After I saw (Brown’s) first pitch (in the 10th), I was confident that I could drive the ball. He threw a fastball right down the pipe.”

And Stevens slammed it into left field for a double that drove in the go-ahead run in Antelope Valley’s 10-9 win over Mission in a nonconference game at Pierce College.

Stevens’ game-winning hit helped Antelope Valley avoid the embarrassment of blowing a five-run lead in the seventh for the second consecutive day.

In Friday’s opener, also against Mission, Antelope Valley let a 6-1 lead evaporate and had to settle for a 6-6 tie when the game was called in the eighth because of darkness.

On Saturday, Antelope Valley relinquished a 7-2 lead in the seventh and a 9-7 lead in the ninth.

But the Marauders struck back with two out in the top of the 10th.

Rod Markovich reached base on an error by second baseman Jose Gallegos and scored the winning run when Stevens belted a 1-0 fastball off Brown. Stevens was thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit.

Reliever Jason Einboden, who came on to quash Mission’s seventh-inning rally, got the win.

Mission struggled against Antelope Valley starter Chris Abbey before Abbey began to tire in the seventh.

Gallegos got to the freshman from Antelope Valley High with a two-run home run to left that keyed Mission’s five-run rally.

The Marauders took a two-run lead in the ninth on Daryl Parish’s triple but Mission tied the score, 9-9, on Travis Wilson’s two-out, two-run single.