Cuesta Baseball returned from a five-day layoff to host an undefeated Reedley team fresh off a win at Monterey Peninsula yesterday.  The break is expected to be, the Cougars longest of the season barring poor weather and the visiting Tigers, fresh off yesterday's win at Monterey Peninsula, struck first with four runs during their first time at the plate and were up 9-1 before Cuesta came back to take the game down to the final out. 

Last week's rains had soaked Cuesta's field, but the Cougars showed they could use the boggy outfield to create extra-base hits and began a long march back.  After the Lobos' jumped to an eight-run lead the Cougars skipped the mud and scored four runs on home runs by Samuel Brewer and Makani Nabarro and then received a third round-tripper by Jack Clothier the next inning to cut the Tigers lead in only four runs, 11-7.  Cuesta finally took the lead after the stretch with the second of two straight four-run innings and held a 15-14 lead with six outs remaining in the contest.  Cuesta Reliever Austin Taylor hurled three scoreless innings to provide cover for their comeback, but, after a pair of singles, he was replaced by Sophomore Starter Woody Brennan in the 9th inning.  Brennan picked up the second out, but then Reedley's Danny Vela turned on the first pitch he saw and smacked the eventual game-winning home run, 17-14.  Cuesta went down in order in their final at-bat as Reedley Reliever Gino Groppetti earned the Save preserving the Tigers' s, 17-15. Victory.  On offense, five Cuesta starters enjoyed multi-hit games, including all-WSC Shortstop Diego Murillo, First Baseman Hayden Kline , and Outfielder Makani Nabarro (pict), who each connect for three safeties on the day.  All three of Nabarro's and Kline's hits also went for extra-bases.  Narbarro, the Cougars' leadoff batter, slugged a pair of Doubles to complement his Home Run, while Kline added a Double and two Triples.  The loss dropped the 8th-ranked Cougars to 4-3, while Reedley was able to steal the victory and improve to 7-0 on the season.  The Tigers, ranked #11 in the pre-season polls, are one of the five remaining undefeated teams in the State. 

The Cougars and Tigers have another "catfight" scheduled for next Tuesday (2 PM) in Reedley.  When Cuesta returns home, they will prepare to host Top-ranked Saddleback for a three-game series.  The Cougars will host the #1-ranked Bobcats at Cuesta's Campus on Thursday (2 PM), Friday (1 PM) and Saturday (Noon)