COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Fullerton Comes Way Back to Advance in Tournament

Jon Gardikis’ fly-ball single in the 11th inning gave host Fullerton a 15-14 victory over Santa Clara Mission Thursday in the first round of the Fullerton tournament.

The single completed a comeback for the persistent Hornets, who trailed, 11-4, after six innings.

Fullerton scored five times in the seventh, two in the eighth and three in the ninth to tie the score, 14-14.

In the ninth inning, Jim Sebreros reached on catcher’s interference with one out. One out later, Andre Robinson singled and Gardikis followed with an RBI single to cut the lead to two, 14-12. Erickson Dumaual singled up the middle to drive in Robinson.

Mark Veronda was hit by a pitch and Robinson scored the tying run on a passed ball on a two-ball, two-strike pitch to Brent Coon, Fullerton’s No. 4 hitter. Coon struck out for the fifth time in the game on the next pitch.

In the 11th, Royce Valent walked to start the inning. Valent was replaced by pinch-runner Hieh Nguyen, who stole second and third before Gardikis’ single.

Veronda keyed the comeback with a three-run triple in the seventh and a two-run double in the eighth. Dumaual had two hits, including a three-run double, and drove in four runs.

Gardikis had three hits and drove in three runs and Robinson had two hits and scored four runs for Fullerton, which plays Fresno, the 1992 State champion, at 2 today in the winners’ bracket final.