A sunny day saw the Mustangs start hot in an important clash against first-place Solano Community College March 1. Ultimately the Falcons showed a no-remorse offense later on in the game, keeping the Stangs in second place in the Bay Valley Conference in a crucial 9-6 loss.

Starting pitcher Spencer Vincent was struck by a hit ball, yet finished the top of the first with a scoreless inning. The Stangs’ offense came to life quickly with third baseman Antone Self and right fielder Gabe Taylor both hitting RBI doubles. Later, designated hitter almost

and utility player Riley Cleary brought another runner home on an infield error giving the team a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

Things kept getting better for the Mustangs. Vincent continued with confident composure on the mound, while center fielder Jonathan Allen smashed a no-doubt solo home run, collecting his second of the year and giving them a comfortable 4-0 lead in the third. The rowdiness of the home team dugout after Allen’s homer caught the attention of the home plate umpire, who demanded everyone to calm down.

“It’s what we do,” said Head Coach D’Albora. “We’re a lively group of energy when anyone does something great and the players support everything that we execute on the field.”

Solano immediately responded in the fourth inning, with two runs and produced five more in the fifth inning ending Vincent’s start and creating early trouble to reliever Garrett Nichols. That offense gave the Falcons the leverage in the fifth inning and the score line was 7-4 lickety-split. LMC realized they had a battle on their hands and wanted to reclaim the lead. They were able to put a run back on their counterpart off catcher Jason Hare’s double that brought Taylor to third and in a flash, scored on an error from the Solano right fielder.

Later, Taylor earned his second RBI with a single, giving the Mustangs a glimmer of hope in the bottom of the seventh and the game being one run away from a tie.

However the first-place Falcons gained an advantage with a two-run homer at the top of the ninth and the game was done from there with a final score of 9-6.

Although the Mustangs had an opportunity to go back on top of the Bay Valley Division, the season is long from over for them.

“This was a tough loss but we’ll need to put ourselves in a position to get wins as much as possible for conference and to achieve great things later on,” said D’Albora.