Pierce Torpedoed by Clutch Double : College baseball: Valley’s Gonzalez drives home two in the eighth, denies Brahmas the South title, 7-5.

All Teddy Gonzalez wanted was to climb out of that one-ball, two-strike hole he had fallen into. And with one swift swing, he went from being taken care of to taking care of.

Gonzalez, a backup sophomore infielder, lined a two-out, two-run pinch double in the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday to give Valley College a 7-5 victory over Pierce in a Western State Conference South Division game at Valley.

The ball, hit on a pitch from Pierce relief ace Chris Frith-Smith (2-4), rolled to the fence and broke not only a 5-5 tie but Pierce’s back in a game the Brahmas needed to win.

“I knew he was working me outside, so I was just trying to hit it that way (to right field),” Gonzalez said. “I took the first two fastballs and then he threw me a curveball and then he gave me one right there. I don’t think he wanted to get it that close.”

For Pierce (25-15, 17-8 in conference play), the loss puts them at playoff risk.

The Brahmas finished tied for first place in the South Division with Bakersfield but the Renegades will be named champions because of the conference tie-breaking procedures and will play North Division winner Cuesta in a one-game playoff Saturday for seeding purposes at the Southern California regional.

The Brahmas, on the other hand, will face the North runner-up--either Moorpark or Ventura--on Saturday at Pierce to determine the third- and fourth-seeded teams in the conference.

However, only the top two seeded teams qualify automatically for the regional, with the No. 3-seeded team having only an outside chance.

Pierce could have secured an automatic bid with a victory over Valley. But the defeat, coupled with Bakersfield’s 15-1 victory over Santa Monica, put the tie-breaking wheels in motion.

The first tie-breaker was head-to-head competition between the Brahmas and Bakersfield, but the teams split their four games.

The second was their record against opponents within the division, but both teams were 14-6 in that category.

Then came head-to-head results against the team with the next-best record in the division, in this case Glendale, but both won three of four games against the Vaqueros.

That brought everything down to Valley, which Bakersfield swept in their four games and Pierce defeated three times.

But the Monarchs (14-20-1, 12-13) pulled the plug on Pierce with a four-run rally in the eighth.

The Monarchs, trailing, 5-3, and not being able to muster much offense against right-hander Jason Warren for seven innings, chased Pierce’s starter in the eighth after he walked Ozzie Areu to open the inning and gave up a single to David Stevenson that sent Areu to third.

That brought in submariner Frith-Smith, but Marlon Hamilton greeted him with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Areu. Designated hitter Jamie Zeichick and catcher Amani Smith hit back-to-back singles and, after Vic Seper flied to right, Gonzalez connected to drive in both runners.

“(Gonzales) clutching up like that was awesome,” Valley Coach Chris Johnson said. “To end it like that, after such a disappointing season, is nice.”

Pierce built a 4-2 lead in the fifth against starter Doug Rubin, who went 7 1/3 innings, when catcher Brian Sturges (two for two) hit a two-run home run to left-center field.

Right-hander Juan Velazquez (2-4) held the Brahmas hitless over the final 1 2/3 innings.