Rams rally for walk-off win over Hartnell

GILROY – Eric Cantu's two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning capped an improbable five-run rally for Gavilan College to defeat visiting Hartnell College by a final score of 8-7 on Thursday afternoon.

Gavilan trailed 5-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth before putting up 7 runs over its final two frames to pull out the win. Down to its final out in the contest, the Rams went on to score all five of its runs off a trio of Hartnell pitchers.

Andre Moretti came through with a pinch-hit RBI single to bring home Alejandro Carrasco with the first run. Three batters later, Damian Tamayo drove in a pair with his clutch single. Pinch hitter Dayton Anderson walked to load up the bases, setting the stage for Cantu to delivery the walk-off winner. His single brought in Tamayo and pinch runner Andrew Giordanengo to set off the Gavilan celebration.

Tamayo had a huge game offensively for the Rams, going 4 for 5 with a double and 4 RBI. Louis Zulaica also had 4 hits, going 4 for 5 with a pair of doubles while scoring 3 runs. Cantu (3 for 5) and Carrasco (3 for 4) also had 3 hits each.

Collin Fairfeld was solid in the start for Gavilan, allowing just a hit and no runs over the opening 2 /13 innings. Zulaica picked up the win in relief to improve to 1-1 overall.