Sam Reel

The SoCal Shepherds won from behind on Sunday, as their six-run seventh inning was the difference in the 9-7 victory. Shepherds' starter Roy Washburn was solid again, however, his defense let him down throughout. Washburn allowed five runs with three of them being earned. Washburn also struck out six on the day. CageRats left fielder, Jared Jeffries, drove in the first two runs of the game with an RBI single in the second and a sac fly in the fourth. The Shepherds would answer with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, as Tanner Smith scored on an error and Reigning Sunset Baseball League Player of the Week Joey Scotvold hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

Three runs in the top of the fifth would give the lead back to the CageRats and they would hold that lead until the bottom of the seventh. Emry Jackson got things started for the Sheps' with a leadoff single to right. A single and a couple of walks later brought Sebastian Dunn to the plate with the bases loaded. Dunn would single to center and drive in two, a third runner would score from first on an error and give the Sheps a 6-5 lead. Dunn would then come around to score on two more errors by the Cagerats for the Sheps' seventh run. Scotvold added a couple of insurance runs with a two-run single to right. In total, the Shepherds sent eleven to the plate and six scored.

The Shepherds bullpen was fantastic as they kept the game close, and then held the lead in the latter half. Ben Peters, Josh Ramirez, and Caleb Pollema combined for three scoreless innings in the sixth, seventh, and eighth. Pollema picked up his first win of the season, as he pitched the seventh and struck out two on his birthday.

In the ninth, the CageRats rally fell short as they got two back but Joey Scotvold slammed the door and secured the 9-7 victory.