TAFT, CA – Taft College baseball starting pitcher, Julian Orozco, took the mound looking to set the tone early and keep Compton College's offense in check.
Taft took an early lead in the first inning when Aidan Otano singled into right field, scoring Odnal Rivera. Compton responded in the third inning with three runs, capitalizing an error from the outfield. Taft closed the gap in the bottom of the third with an RBI single from Roman Roberts and later tied the game in the sixth after Gaku Yamamoto put a ball in play allowing Isaac Pinedo to score. However, Compton pulled ahead in the seventh putting up 2 runs on the board to put them ahead. The Tarbabes scored one more in the ninth for extra insurance which sealed the 6-3 win for Compton.
Orozco pitched an excellent game, going 5 innings and allowing only one earned run. Roberts had a day at the plate going 3 for 4 with 1 RbI and a walk.
Taft College will play this Tuesday, March 25 for an in-conference 3-game series against College of the Sequoias. Game two will proceed in Taft on Thursday at 2:00 pm, then back in Visalia on Saturday.