Kentridge walks off Kentwood in extra innings

Published 11:03 am Monday, March 30, 2026

The last three Kentidge baseball games have been some of the hardest games the Chargers have played all season. Maybe not from a difficulty on the field standpoint, but from the standpoint of being so close, but letting three wins slip through their fingers in the final moments.

After a 4-3 defeat on March 24 to Kentwood, the Chargers finally found some good fortune and walked off their rivals in game two of the two game series, 6-5, on March 25.

“We were struggling early on, but for them to start taking advantage of opportunities with the errors, was good to see. It’s hard the last few games, getting walked off twice in a row and losing yesterday, you could tell they were down. But to be able to tack on and win that, they needed that win badly,” head coach Sheldon Stober said.

Kentridge had been on the losing end of walkoffs twice already this season and looked like another game was going to slip through their fingers. But in the ninth inning, with the tying run on third and winning run on second, Levi Baca won it for the Chargers. “He’s been struggling the last couple games, he needed that too. It took the entire team to get the win today. But for him to be able to come up in that spot and get us that win was awesome,” Stober said.

Baca entered his at-bat struggling. In the two games against Kentwood, Baca was 0-for-5 before his game winning hit. Baca’s last hit came on March 17 in the 7-6 loss to Emerald Ridge, he was on an 0-for-9 streak at the plate. But on an 0-2 pitch, Baca hit a groundball past the shortstop into left field, scoring Tyler Ikegami and Brendyn Malapitan to win the game. “It was the time to change. It was a whole team effort, it took nine innings and was a whole team effort,” Baca said. “Baseball in fun in that way, you can just change the narrative just like that. It felt amazing.”

Baca was swarmed by his teammates in walkoff fashion, the celebration worked its way out to centerfield. “It was a weight lifted off our shoulders,” Baca said. “It was really fun.”

Kentridge’s offense had been stymied through the first five innings. Kentwood’s Isaac Hall was dominant and kept Charger hitters off balance with east. Hall went 5 innings, allowed three hits, two runs that were earned and struck out 10 Kentridge hitters. “He’s quick, he’s gets in a rhythm. You could tell with his demeanor he was having fun. He’s a competitor, he’s going to Everett Community College, they got a good one. He was tough,” Stober said.

Kentwood rode that Hall start to a 3-0 lead through four innings with a run in the second, third and fourth inning. It was an uncharacteristic start for Akoni Nazarino who lasted just those four innings. Just one of the three runs was earned but he gave up five free bases (2 BB, 3 HBP), but Karl Ust five innings held it down for Stober. “Akoni is our guy that we lean on, but this team can lean on somebody else. For Karl to come in and throw five innings was fantastic. He hasn’t been a part of a game this year, for him to come up in that spot and get us a win was fantastic to see,” Stober said.

Just to get to extra innings, the Chargers needed a bit of luck, something they have not had all season. With two on and no outs in the sixth, Landon Todd lifted a ball to left field off of the new Kentwood pitcher Cody Hipolito. Based on the sun or backdrop, the Kentwood left fielder completely misjudged the ball and it rolled all the way to the wall for a triple. On the very next pitch Cardo Del Fierro singled home Todd to tie the game at three a piece.

In extra innings, both teams traded runs in the eighth inning. Kentwood got their run on a Cael Miller double that was smoked to dead center field for the Conks. Kentridge then was forced to respond in their home half of the eighth.

With two outs, Del Fierro reached on an error from the third baseman Xander Dutton and Kasen Barnes doubled down the right field line to tie the game. “We are known as a gritty team, we aren’t going to hit home runs or shoot doubled every where. As you can see, we get the job done. It was back and forth, they (Kentwood) are a good team. They are a gritty team like us. It was a really gritty game,” Baca said.

Barnes was left stranded on second base with the score 4-4, but Kentwood wasn’t going to just roll over. With one out Dutton singled to load the bases, Kai Ito hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate another go-ahead run for the Conks. But the Chargers in the bottom of the ninth, put the game to bed thanks to Levi Baca.

“The last three innings was awesome to see,” Stober said.

Kentridge takes on Auburn in their next series with game one on March 31 at Hogan Park. Kentwood will move on and play Mount Rainier on March 31 on the road.