Jackson Crushes Walk-Off Winner, Oaks Defeat Barons in Extras

Jackson Crushes Walk-Off Winner, Oaks Defeat Barons in Extras

By Micah Rodriguez

Playing in their first back-to-back of the young season, the Conejo Oaks defeated the Academy Barons 5–4 in eleven innings in a walk-off thriller at Pirate Park. In the bottom of the eleventh, first baseman Dylan Jackson elevated his first big fly of the season to left field and sent the Oaks faithful home happy.

Right-hander Hunter Hammond got the start on the mound for the Oaks. Currently in the transfer portal, Hammond was productive in his four innings of work – the longest start of the season for the Oaks. The Atascadero, California native gave up one unearned run, surrendered two hits, allowed one walk, and induced two inning-ending double plays to go along with one strikeout.

After not trailing at all in their 7–4 opening day victory over the Orange County Riptide, the Oaks immediately found themselves trailing 1–0 after the Barons got on the board thanks to a wild pitch in the top of the first. 

Through the first four innings, first baseman Jackson and catcher Aiden Voyles recorded singles in the second and fourth innings, respectively, but the Oaks couldn't string anything together. 

In relief of Hammond, the Oaks turned to Thomas Novak. The left-hander escaped a jam in the top of the fifth with a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play. 

In the bottom half of the fifth, second baseman Grant Rodriguez worked a five-pitch, one-out walk to give the Oaks their third base runner of the game. The following batter, center fielder James Latshaw, blooped a broken-bat single just beyond the second baseman to put runners on the corners. After a strikeout, Voyles, who is celebrating his 20th birthday, smoked his second single of the day through the 3-4 hole, scoring Rodriguez at first to knot the score at one.

"[I was] looking for an elevated pitch and looking to drive it," Voyles said. "I saw a changeup down and I was still aggressive and able to hit it backside."

Novak ran into trouble in the top of the sixth. After allowing a one-out walk, a two-base error put runners on second and third. The next batter knocked a single up the middle to retake the lead for the Barons. After hitting the next batter, Novak limited the damage, inducing the Oaks' fourth double play ball of the contest to keep the score 2-1 favoring the Barons. 

Right-hander Arnold Wu relieved Novak in the top of the seventh. The rising sophomore from Pepperdine shut the Barons down in order in his lone inning of work. Wu struck out one batter, but the Barons still held a 2–1 lead heading into the seventh-inning stretch. 

The Oaks threatened in the bottom half of the seventh. Latshaw ripped his second single of the game through the 5-6 hole. With two outs, Latshaw keenly took second and third on a passed ball. However, Voyles slapped a hard ground ball to third base, and the Barons clung to their 2–1 lead heading into the eighth. 

Following Wu, the Oaks turned to Hector Valdez, a right-hander in the midst of his third summer with the Oaks. After inducing a groundout to open his outing, the Baron's first baseman, Jason Del Villar, lifted his California Collegiate League-leading third home run in as many games to give the Barons a 3–1 lead. 

The Barons rallied together two singles and a walk to load the bases still with one out. After a mound visit, Valdez bore down, recording a strikeout and a flyout to keep the Oaks down by two. 

In the bottom of the eighth, the Oaks sent the top of the order to the plate. Nagy was hit by the first pitch he saw to put a runner on for Lopez. On a 0-1 count, Lopez smashed his first home run of the summer off the top of the wall in left-center to even the score at three and give the Oaks life heading into the ninth inning. 

"[The Barons] controlled the game early on," Head Coach David Soliz said. "In the eighth, we lead off with a hit by pitch and then the homer. All the work that we had to do to stay in the game, we got it all back in one swing. It gives you momentum, a little shot in the arm."

The Oaks turned to last season's closer, right-hander Braden Lowe, in the ninth inning. With two on and one out, Lowe tied Del Villar up on an inside fastball for strike three and a big second out. The next batter grounded out weakly to Lowe as the score remained tied heading into the bottom half. 

With a ghost runner added to second base in extra innings, left-hander Ty Hanley was unfazed and shut the Barons down in order to keep the score knotted at three. 

The Oaks threatened in the bottom of the tenth with runners on the corners with nobody out. However, Lopez flew into a double play and pinch runner Luke Medhurst was thrown out at the plate to give momentum back to the Barons. 

The Barons retook the lead, 4–3, in the top of the eleventh thanks to an RBI double from shortstop Mace Emmerman. Hanley was able to escape further damage, striking out the next two Barons. Hanley punched out four in his two innings of work. 

In the bottom half of the eleventh, Jackson stepped to the plate looking for his second hit of the day. On a 2-0 count, Jackson connected and sent a deep drive just into the netting beyond the left field fence to give the Oaks a walk-off win, 5–4.

"Earlier in the game, [Jackson] had pretty good swings on fastballs," Soliz said. "[Jackson] came to me before that at-bat and said, 'You mind if I jump on a fastball?' I said, 'Absolutely.'"

The Oaks did not hold the lead all game until Jackson's walk-off blast.

"Everybody wants to get better, but if you focus on team baseball, you will improve as a player," Soliz continued. "Early on, we were having trouble scoring runs, but we were still playing good team baseball."

The Oaks are now 2–0 and can look ahead to their matchup on Tuesday against the Santa Barbara Foresters. First pitch is at 4 p.m.