It all came down to the bottom of the 10th inning, with the score knotted up at 2-2.

With one out already on the board, all eyes were on Warriors catcher Juan Carlos Camarena as he strode up to the plate.

As Mt. San Antonio College (SAC) pitcher Ray Northey wound up and delivered a pitch straight down the middle, Camerena swung, splitting a line drive right up the center.

Outfielder Connor Meidroth rounded third, at first hesitating the call swinging him toward home.

But with a final slide toward the plate, the dugout erupted in celebration rushing the field with water flying through the air, mobbing Camarena.

“I feel like our defense is on point, our pitching was good, our starter today [David Case] was on point,” Camarena said. “Just, you know, little mistakes in our offense, other than that defense had it down, our bullpen had it down.”

The April 27 South Coast Conference home game ended with a 3-2 victory for the El Camino College baseball team. The game was the second of a three-game series against Mt. San Antonio College, who won the previous game on April 24, 6-5.

The game finisher came after a dry six innings that produced no scores as pitchers Case and Mt. SAC starter Joey Peralta kept the game free of runs.

The action ramped up at the bottom of the sixth inning as Warrior Elijah Tolsma cracked a two-run blast to left field being the first to draw blood giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead going into the top of the seventh inning.

Mt. SAC answered with two runs at the top of the 7th with shortstop Elijah Pelayo managing a hit straight up center, allowing infielder Damien Delgadillo to score.

Pelayo wound up stealing second which allowed Mt. SAC outfielder Braydyn France to bring Pelayo home when France hit a grounder down the right field line.

At the top of the eighth inning, the Warriors went to their bullpen bringing in relief pitcher Jason Davis.

Davis managed to hold off Mt. SAC’s offense at the top of the 10th inning, striking out catcher Cj Ontiveros, leading the Warriors into the bottom of the inning and their eventual victory.

Davis’s father Jon Davis was at the game and would leave the bleachers to stand by the field every time his son hit the mound, he said Jason has been playing baseball since he was 5 years old.

“Usually I’m pretty calm but today I was nerve-wracked,” Jon Davis said. “Now I can breathe.”

“We had several chances to take a lead but credit to their team, they made big pitches and made the plays when they had to beat us,” Mt. SAC coach John Knott said. “​​That’s the fun part about competing against these guys, they run a great program.”

Warriors coach Nate Fernley said he felt “relieved” and was happy with how the Warriors battled. He said Mt. SAC is well-coached and knew coming into the game it would be a close one.

Fernley said the victory clinched at least a portion of the South Coast Conference. Even if the Warriors lose the next match against the Mounties, they’ll still be co-champions.

“We have our last game of the season tomorrow, we’ve already clinched the conference,” Fernley said.” We got a one-game lead with one game to go so if we win tomorrow we’re champs all by ourselves. Then when it comes down to playoffs we’ll see where we’re going.”

With an overall record of 27-12 and a South Coast Conference record of 17-16, the Warriors will take on Mt. SAC to finish the series on Friday, April 18, at Mt. SAC’s Mazmanian Field in Walnut starting at 2:30 p.m.

Editor Ethan Cohen contributed to this report.

Editor’s Note:

• Updated the location of Friday’s baseball game on Friday, April 28, at 10:33 a.m.
• Updated placement of graphs on Friday, April 28, at 10:36 a.m.