Knights Get Past Mesa With 3-Run Rally in 9th

San Diego City went into the bottom of the ninth down by two runs, but rallied with three runs to beat Mesa, 9-8, in front of the largest home crowd of the season. Jake Pfitzner hit his state-leading 15th home run and starting pitcher Avery Laine struck out nine to bring his total to 84.

The Knights won the season series, 3-2, over Mesa and improved to 20-15 overall and 12-10 in the PCAC, making it the second consecutive season that they have reached the 20-win mark.

Friday's series finale saw the Knights take another early lead with three runs in the first inning and one in the second to go up 4-0.

Jesse Chacon put the Knights on the board first with a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the first, which was followed by a Chaz Kaneakua sacrifice fly that scored Pfitzner. 

In the second inning, Alex Chacon gave City a 4-run lead after hitting an RBI single.

Mesa answered with a run in the fourth inning and a 3-run home run by Andrew Ramirez in the fifth inning to tie the game for the first time. The Olympians went ahead, 6-4, on an eighth-inning triple by Luke O'Brien, who then scored on an error. 

The Knights responded by tying the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth after a solo home run from Pfitzner and a bases-loaded walk by Isaiah Hilke. With that home run, Pfitzner now leads all players in the state with 15.

City's starter Laine struck out nine Mesa batters in eight innings on the mound and now has a total of 84, which puts him in an 8th-place tie in the state.

Mesa regained a 2-run lead in the top of the ninth on bases-loaded fielder's choice and a failed pickoff attempt that led to Darren Cho scoring from third. 

The Knights, however, countered one more time in the bottom of the ninth with a 3-run rally that kept their playoff hopes alive. Alex Gonzalez hit a lead-off double, which was followed by a Pfitzner walk. 

Jesse Chacon came up next and hit a single that brought home Gonzalez from second base. Chaz Kaneakua then reached on a fielder's choice after Mesa's first baseman dropped what would've been the second out of a double play, but that error allowed Pfitzner to score and Kaneakua to advance to third base. 

Two batters later, Landyn Magina's ground ball forced an error by the third baseman that let Kaneakua to cross home plate for the dramatic game-winning run. It was City's seventh victory in the last eight games as they head into a 3-game series against first place Palomar (26-9, 19-2 PCAC).

The first game of that series is set for Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Palomar. The Knights will host next Thursday's game at Morley Field and the series will conclude at Palomar College on April 26, also at 2 p.m.