EL CAJON – The Grossmont College Griffin baseball team did not exactly have the best of weeks.
On Tuesday, the Griffins (5-5) traveled to Long Beach City College and took the early lead with a run in the top of the second. LBCC took over the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Grossmont came back to tie the game with home runs by Noah Lane (second home run) and Nevin Noonan (second home run). GC retook the lead with a run in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the same inning, the Vikings scored once to tie the game. Long Beach would win with a walk-off single for the 5-4 victory.
Wednesday saw the Griffins in Riverside (7-4) for the rare night game on the Griffin schedule, the only one during the regular season. The pre-season number one team showed why they were ranked so high. California Baptist University bounce-back Anthony Silvas threw five innings allowing one hit and two walks, while striking out nine Griffins. Riverside jumped on the Griffin pitching for seven runs across the second through fourth innings. Grossmont got on the board with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh and scratched across another run in the ninth. Riverside would win 8-3.
Thursday saw the Griffins and Vikings battle once again, this time at Noel Michelson Field on campus. The Green and Gold would score early and often. Three in the bottom of the first and another in the second. The Vikings would not go quietly as they rallied for their lone run in the top of the fourth. Grossmont would squash any hopes a comeback as they scored twice in the bottom of the fourth. Sadly, that would be the only win for the week.
Saturday saw the second consecutive game that the Griffins play against a team that they had already played. East Los Angeles (2-9) would come and take on the Griffins on a very breezy day. The G-House would score a lone run in the bottom of the second to take the early, and only, lead. ELAC would come up with some very timely hitting and strung together as eight of the 11 batters that came to the plate in the top of the third reached safely. Grossmont would put three on the board in the bottom of the fourth to close the gap to 7-4. The Huskies would find ways to put four up in the fifth, two in the seventh and three more in the eighth innings. Grossmont rallied in the ninth inning. Scoring five runs and had the bases loaded when the final out was recorded.
Weather permitting, the Griffins will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 24 when they host Irvine Valley in the front end of a scheduled home and home on consecutive days. A full inch of rain is predicted to fall in the Fletcher Hills neighborhood on Thursday. Stay tuned to grossmontgriffins.com for more information.