Valley College baseball snap five game losing streak beating West LA College.

After not registering a win since March 13, the Monarchs got back into the win column, dominating the Wildcats 12-2 on Tuesday, March 31.

By: Alejandro Garcia, Sports Editor 

The Monarchs currently stand at a 9-19 overall record with a 3-7 conference record, edging out an authoritative win against the Wildcats. After suffering a lengthy streak of losses, gaining 12 runs with 11 runners batted and 14 hits, it was all Monarchs on the field.

All went downhill for the Monarchs before the West LA victory, going on to drop five of their conference games, two against Los Angeles Pierce College and three to Glendale College. Ultimately, they got outscored 66-32 across all games. Their last win came from a home game against Antelope Valley, topping the Marauders 10-6, on March 13. 

The first matchup against Pierce College was March 17, where the Monarchs traveled to Joe Kelly Field. The Monarchs got off to an explosive start as they managed to bring in seven runs at the bottom of the first, leading off against the Brahmas 7-0. Despite the fiery start, it was the Brahmas who emerged victorious, edging out the win with an impressive comeback in the sixth inning, chalking up 16 runs to finish off the Monarchs 28-14. 

Game two against the Brahmas was hosted at Valley on Thursday, March 19, due to an unplayable playing field, which saw the Monarchs getting shut out, dropping the second game to Pierce 2-0. The Brahmas pitching only allowed two total hits. 

The Monarchs were on the road once again, visiting Glendale in Game 1 of a three-game stint starting Tuesday, March 24, through March 28. A back-and-forth series, Game 1 and 3 taking place at Glendale, while Valley hosted the second.

Keeping Game 1 a close contest, the Monarchs tried to pull off a comeback, trailing 15-9 in the ninth inning to the Vaqueros, but came short, unable to rally in the runs. Game 2 came back to Valley home field, where the Monarchs kept up with the Vauqueros’ speed across the first six innings, leveled at 6-6. 

Nearing the closing stages of the ball game, and trailing 8-6, the Monarch applied the pressure, trying to rally back up with players on base. Managing to get the final crucial strikes and groundouts, the Vaqueros got out of a troublesome inning, dismantling the Monarchs’ hopes.

“Can't give up the big runs like what we did in the ninth,” said Valley head coach Will Skett. “We just can't give up the big inning.” 

The Monarchs then went on to lose Game 3 back on Glendale soil, 8-2, as the Vaqueros, with a swift and dominant first three innings, brought in six runs to nothing and allowed only two runs on the board from the Monarchs in the last innings. Glendale pitcher Michael Guerrero went five innings, shutting out the Monarchs with seven strikeouts and allowing just one hit.

Now with a 3-7 conference record standing coming off a victory over West LA College, the Monarch will journey to West LA once again for Game 2 of the two game period entering a new month of play with a dub on Thursday, April 2. First pitch scheduled at 2:00 p.m.

Contributors: Joshua Kahn