California Sports Journal

Senior first baseman James Holder came to bat with two outs and one runner on second and hit the first ball that came his way. The pitch was exactly what he wanted, a fast ball.

"I was confident that we would be able to score off it," said Holder, whose single capped a remarkable comeback by Cal and sent Bear fans home happy, 5-4.

The starting Cal pitcher was golden Boy Adam Gold who threw 51 strikes out of 92 pitches in the first five innings. Perhaps no one in the stands liked Gold more than a heckling Saint Mary’s fan who gave Gold advice such as "Go get a haircut" and "Throw it over that white plate that looks like a house" when Gold pitched a ball.

In the first few innings of the game looked like it was going to be normal. Gaels up by 1 in the first, Bears answered with 2 in the third, Brennan Boesch hitting a long fly over the head of the Gael second baseman allowing teammates Matt Einspahr and Allen Craig to score. But in the 7th it appeared that the game was over with Saint Mary’s up 4-2.

But there was still life left in the Bears, and at the very last moment. At a game where the 505 fans probably desired hot cocoa more than an icy cold beer, Cal tied up the game in the bottom of the 9th.

Three innings later, with two outs and Holder coming to bat, most spectators were whispering that the game was going to be called due to the impending darkness of nightfall. But Holder had other plans. He pounced on the fast ball from Saint Mary’s sophomore pitcher Brian Oland and made the taunting heckler eat his words.

"This just shows you got to stay in every moment of every game. We basically stole a game from them," Holder said. "It just shows that you never give up when your chips are down."

Holder said although he was the winning hitter, the win belongs to the whole team.

"It’s really a team win," he said. "I was just the lucky one to get all the glory at the end."

The star play of the game was in the 10th inning when Gael Senior outfielder Adam Thompson hit a pitch detined for center field but was stopped short by the quick wit of Cal Senior pitcher Travis Talbott was caught before leaving the infield. After the startling fast catch, Talbott then threw the ball to first to get a Gael player out on his way back to the base, making it a double play.

Talbott, whose arsenal includes both an upper 80s fast ball and curve ball, said he was proud to help the Bears (5-4 so far this season) continue their six winning streak.

"On the bench it was like I knew we were going to win the whole game," he said. "It felt good. This was a big win for us."

The only person more disappointed by the Bears win then the Gaels was the creative loudmouth Saint Mary’s fan. The heckles that were in abundance throughout the beginning of the game seemed to disappear as the innings wore on. But he definitely got his share of yelling "UC Liberals," "UC Tree Huggers," and "I know who you all voted for. I voted for Bush" before hanging his head in shame after watching his team squander away a sure thing in the bottom of the 9th.

This will not be the last of the vengeful spiteful lad, since he will surely be there at Saturday’s game at Saint Mary’s and the third game in the series at Cal.