The Chaffey College baseball team is going to win the Foothill Conference. One more win in the last five games will do it after the Panthers survived local rival San Bernardino Valley 13-12 on Thursday.
But the Chaffey bullpen has been a little shakey. A week ago the Panthers were up on Cerro Coso 8-2, only to give up six in the ninth. They got one in their half of the inning to win 9-8.
That same scenario played out again today at SBVC. Chaffey led 13-7 but SBVC got six in the ninth, four of those on a grand slam by Josh Salmon, who was cut by Chaffey in the fall, How is that for drama?
SBVC had bases loaded when the Panthers finally got the last two outs.
One big blown lead against a mediocre foe in the ninth can happen, but twice in a week has to be reason for concern. If it’s a problem now it could certainly be a problem when the Panthers are facing tougher competition in the playoffs.