The Los Medanos Mustangs secured a dramatic 3-2 walk-off victory over Mendocino Tuesday, March 18, extending their winning streak to seven games. No. 7 Chase Taylor played the hero when he delivered a game-winning run-batted-in (RBI) single in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win.
Los Medanos struck first in the opening inning when No. 6 Nathan Leffel drove in Taylor with an RBI single. Mendocino responded in the fifth, taking a 2-1 lead after No. 15 Dominic Joseph reached on an error that allowed two runs to score. The Mustangs evened things up in the seventh when Taylor singled home No. 29 Heo Yun Han, setting the stage for the late-game drama.
Taylor finished the night 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while Los Medanos’ pitching staff dominated, allowing just three hits. No. 36 Jack Karst earned the win, tossing three scoreless innings in relief.
After the game, head coach Harmen Sidhu praised his team’s resilience.
“I give credit to their team…they executed their game plan. They did a really good job.” Sidhu said. “But we just have to make sure we stay within ourselves and stick to the plan. That’s the beauty of baseball. It’s almost as if one pitch can make a difference.”
With their recent success, the Mustangs remain focused on the bigger picture.
“A win is always important. Winning is always great, but also learning from your wins. The last couple weeks, we’ve had some bigger leads and a little bit more blowouts, and we play a closer game, and it gets a little more intense,” Sidhu said. “I also told them, it doesn’t matter who we play. People are gunning for us. You know, we’ve won games within conference, and people don’t care about who we are for the most part year to year. They just care that we won, so they’re coming for us, we have a target on our back.”
Sidhu credited the team’s tough preseason schedule for preparing them for high-pressure moments.
“I think the key for what we’ve been doing, the success that we’ve been having, is our pitching. Obviously, our hitting has been stepping up, but our pitching has been stepping up a lot, too, and we’re more competitive. Guys are executing game plans, and our hitters are doing a great job,” Sidhu said.
The Mustangs will look to keep their momentum going as they face Mendocino again at an away game next week.
