Taft Baseball rallies late to defeat Porterville 9-7 on the road

Taft College erased a four-run deficit with a four-run top of the eighth inning and defeated Porterville College 9-7 on Thursday afternoon in Porterville. After trailing 7-3 through six innings, the Cougars steadily chipped away, then seized control in the eighth before Sebastian Montoya closed out the ninth for the save.

Porterville grabbed the early momentum in the bottom of the first. Josh Myers delivered the biggest swing of the day for the home side, sending a bases-loaded home run to center for a grand slam and a 4-0 lead. Porterville added another run in the third, and after Taft began to respond, the hosts stretched the margin back to 7-3 in the sixth. Zayne Thornton doubled to left for an RBI during that inning as Porterville built what appeared to be a comfortable advantage.

Taft's comeback began with steady offensive pressure. William Glover singled to right in the fifth to bring home a run and cut the deficit to 4-1. In the sixth, Gaku Yamamoto lined an RBI single to right as the Cougars added two more runs and stayed within striking distance at 5-3 before Porterville answered in the bottom half. Taft continued to produce quality at-bats throughout the afternoon, finishing with 15 hits, four doubles and six walks.

The seventh inning brought the game within reach. Noah Duran doubled to center to score Landon Angelo, and Taft later added another run on a wild pitch to trim the deficit to 7-5. The decisive breakthrough came in the eighth, when the Cougars pushed across four runs. Angelo delivered an RBI single during the rally, and Taft also capitalized on run-scoring walks and a sacrifice fly to turn the game around and move in front 9-7.

Several Taft hitters played central roles in the win. Yamamoto finished 3 for 5 with two RBIs and two doubles, while Glover added two hits and an RBI. Roberto Madrigal also contributed two hits and one RBI as the Cougars outhit Porterville 15-9. Taft did overcome four errors in the field, while Porterville played error-free baseball. On the other side, Myers finished with the grand slam and four RBIs, and Colton Isom worked 6.0 innings with five strikeouts and three earned runs for Porterville.

Porterville threatened at points in the late innings, but Taft's pitching held after the eighth-inning surge. Montoya handled the final frame cleanly, retiring the side in the bottom of the ninth to secure the comeback victory. The finish completed a resilient road win for the Cougars, who recovered from an early punch and controlled the game's final decisive moments.