Alisha Alexander - Director of Baseball Operations

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The regular season concluded on Saturday night as the SoCal Bombers dropped their final SCCBL matchup to the Palm Springs Power.  The game was a back-and-forth battle until the Power bats exploded for a huge eighth inning.

It was the Power who struck first as a leadoff triple followed by an error put them up 1-0 in the bottom of the second.

Eric Mendez singled to begin the third inning and get the momentum going for the Bombers.  He was thrown out at second, but his team picked him up as Chris Palmer reached on a two out single.  Back-to-back RBI doubles from Joey Magro and Conner Shepherd put the Bombers on top 2-1.

The Power quickly answered back in the bottom half of the third, putting up a four spot to reclaim the lead.

Daniel Dominguez stayed hot for the Bombers with a leadoff single in the top of the fourth.  Jimmy Smith followed up with an RBI triple down the left field line and was knocked in by a groundout from Chris Sandberg.

Sergio Valenzuela took over on the mound for the starter, Dylan Simcik, in the bottom of the fourth and worked a quick, scoreless inning.

As the Bombers trailed 5-4, Palmer singled to leadoff the top of the fifth inning.  With two outs, Cody White came to the plate and tied the game with an RBI double as Palmer came around to score.

Palm Springs took advantage of a Bomber error in the bottom of the fifth and was able to grab a one-run lead.

The Bombers tied the game at six in the bottom of the sixth as Smith doubled and later scored on a single to left off the bat of Sandberg.

The back-and-forth battle continued in the bottom of the sixth as the Power took a 7-6 lead.  After allowing a run, Andrew Miner shut down the Power with a strikeout and a double play to get the Bombers out of a jam.  He worked a quick top of the seventh, sitting the Power down in order.

Smith recorded his third extra-base hit of the game with a leadoff double in the top of the eighth as took third on a pass ball.  A sacrifice fly from Sandberg brought Smith in to tie the game at seven, giving Sandberg his third RBI of the night.

The wheels seemed to come off for the Bombers in the bottom of the eighth, as the Power bats could not be silenced.  The 10 hit inning pushed Palm Springs past the Bombers as they went on to win 21-7.

The SoCal Bombers now turn their attention to playoffs as they locked up the #2 seed with their win over the Bucs on Thursday.  They head to San Diego to begin a best-of-three series with the Force on Tuesday before the series heads back home for game two and an if-necessary game three.