Colton, CA—Spring is here and that means it’s time for Colton High baseball. The Yellowjackets took to their home field today to face off against Riverside Poly in the first game of the Summit Tournament. Poly got off to a hot start in the first inning and held off the Yellowjacket attack to hand Colton its first loss of the new season, 14-7.

Colton was led by Andrew Montes, who went 3-for-4 with two runs. He also relieved starting pitcher Isaac Bustillos for the final out of a nightmarish first inning, then pitched the rest of the game, striking out two and giving up 5 runs on 9 hits.

Second baseman Steven Aguayo also had a solid offensive game, going 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs.

Poly broke the game open in the top of the first, lighting up the Yellowjackets for 9 runs. Nathan Albrecht hit a grand slam from the clean up spot to make it 4-0. Another 2-run shot a couple batters later made it 6-0. Colton got a solid double play, but right as it looked like they might settle down, Poly followed up with a single, double, and triple on their next three at bats to go up 9-0.

Colton fought back in the bottom of the first. Andy Navarrete slapped a double, then Montes followed him with a line drive single up the middle. The bases were loaded when Azael Hernandez got hit by a pitch, setting up Aguayo, Bustillos, and Aiden Segura for back-to-back singles that closed Poly’s lead to 9-3. Karlo Verdin then crushed a 2-run double to center to make it 9-5. Colton looked primed to even the game.

After the 14 run first inning, the game settled down and the defenses picked up. After a strong 2nd inning, Colton allowed 4 more runs in the 3rd, which put the game out of reach.

There’s no time to get down about this loss, however. The Yellowjackets are scheduled to play four games in the next seven days. They will match up against Carter High this Wednesday, Feb. 15 at home. Game time is 3 p.m.

Game Notes:

Colton JV Baseball played their first game of the season against Poly Riverside, losing 11-0 to the Bears.