Steven Grizzle rips a fifth-inning RBI single to left
Posted: Jan 29, 2020
Tuesday's baseball game between West Valley and American River began in a steady rain and ended in near-darkness. In between, the teams staged an early-season 24-hit battle that ended with ARC holding on for a 9-5 win at Valhalla.
Starters Ryan Sleeman (WVC) and Will Gonzales (ARC) kept things scoreless until Sleeman gave up a Brooks Mitchell two-run HR and a Joe Hayden three-run 3B for a 5-0 Beaver lead in the top of the fourth.
The Vikings (1-2) answered with three runs in fifth. Curran Ozawa-Burns drew a bases-loaded walk that scored Jalen Robinson. Steven Grizzle followed with a single to left that knocked in Jared Reupert, and Henry Wright cut the ARC lead to 5-3 with a single that scored Jonathan Teschner.
American River (2-1) put four on the board in the top of the eighth to go up 9-3. The Viking ninth started as the game moved past the three-and-a-half hour mark and darkness crept into Valhalla.
With one out, Ozawa-Burns singled and advanced to second on Logan Reulman's ground-out. Grizzle stepped into the box and sent a blast to straight-away left, his second HR in as many games, to make it 9-5. Cole Murchison kept the WVC comeback hopes alive with a double, but Wright went down swinging to end the threat.
Grizzle finished 2-4 with three RBI, while Murchison, Teschner and Wright had two hits apiece. Sleeman took the loss. Gonzales grabbed the win for ARC.
West Valley opens a three-game home series against Butte (0-3) Thursday (1/30) at 2pm. The Vikings and the Roadrunners take the field at noon on Friday and Saturday.
