Baseball Walks Off Mount San Antonio, Clinches Share of Conference Title

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College clinched at least a share of the South Coast Conference regular season title with a 3-2 walk-off victory over Mount San Antonio in 10 innings on Thursday afternoon at Warrior Field.

With the victory, the Warriors (27-12, 17-6) secured at least a share of the SCC title as they lead Pasadena in the standings by one game with one left to play after the Lancers defeated Compton on Thursday. The Warriors can clinch the title outright with a victory on Friday at Mt. SAC or with a Pasadena loss against Compton in the final game of the regular season.

The 2023 SCC Title marks the first time the Warriors have won the conference since 2019 when they shared the title with Long Beach. It is the Warriors sixth SCC title overall.

On Thursday, the Warriors and Mounties battled it out for 10 innings with the game ending with a walk-off for the second game in a row. But this time the Warriors came out on top as Juan Carlos Camarena flopped an RBI single to left-center to score Connor Meidroth from second base and secure the 3-2 win.

Camarena finished 2-for-5 and Meidroth was 1-for-5 with a run scored. Elijah Tolsma was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and Patrick Stark also collected two hits.

The game was a pitchers' duel as Warriors starter David Case and Mounties pitcher Joey Peralta matched zeroes for five and a half innings before Tolsma touched up Peralta with a two-run blast to left field in the bottom of the sixth for a 2-0 Warriors lead.

The Mounties countered in the top of the seventh as Elijah Pelayo singled in Damien Delgadillo from second for the first run and then Braydyn France doubled down the right-field line to plate the tying run to square the game at 2-2.

The seventh would be Case's last on the mound for the Warriors and he was masterful, allowing just two runs and striking out 10, setting a new season-high.

Peralta was just as good for the Mounties as he went seven innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

The bullpens battled it out for the rest of the way as Jason Davis locked it down for the Warriors, going the last three innings while allowing one hit and striking out two.

For the Mounties, Trent Merrill pitched a scoreless eighth and then Ray Northey took over in the ninth, allowing just a walk in the inning.

But the Warriors got to him in the 10th as Meidroth led off with a single to center and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Dylan Knowles. The Mounties then intentionally walked Ethan Felix, bringing up Camarena who leads the Warriors in batting average. He showed off why as he fisted a single to left-center to bring in Meidroth and end the game.

The teams will meet one more time for the regular season finale on Friday afternoon at Mazmanian Field at Mt. SAC for a 2:30 p.m. first pitch.