Down to its final three outs, Central Valley's varsity baseball team appeared headed for its 13th consecutive loss.
The Hawks did the unexpected by battling back from a six-run deficit en route to stunning Pacheco 9-8 in Western Athletic Conference play on Thursday in Ceres.
Gabriel Quezada accounted for the winning run as he scored all the way from first base on a series of Panther defensive blunders in the bottom of the seventh inning.
"It's a relief," Quezada said. "The curse is finally broken. To be honest, I thought it was going to take longer."
Central Valley improved to 3-15-1 overall and 1-9 in the WAC standings.
Pacheco dropped to 7-10 and 3-7.
The Hawks had a host of contributors on offense during their thrilling victory over the Panthers.
Central Valley piled up 10 hits.
Quezada batted 2-for-4 with one double, one RBI and one run.
Sophomore Alexis Solis batted 2-for-4 with one double, two RBIs and two runs.
James Andres batted 1-for-2 with one RBI and one run.
Andrew Badillo batted 1-for-4 with one RBI and one run.
Jason Perez batted 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Joel Branco and Gabriel Campos both scored one run.
Israel Anaya and Robert Garcia chipped in with one single apiece.
Anaya was the winning pitcher.
Israel allowed no runs and one hit with one strikeout while tossing 11/3 innings of relief.
Starter Daniel Valencia yielded three earned runs and six hits with one strikeout in 31/3 innings.
Solis gave up no earned runs and one hit with two strikeouts in 21/3 innings.
Central Valley faced an 8-2 deficit heading into the final inning.
"Nobody was thinking about the score," Quezada said. "We were thinking about executing one pitch at a time. We battled back. We got some runners on and base hits. We responded well. Usually in those situations, we don't."
Central Valley avenged a 6-4 loss suffered at Pacheco earlier in the week.
Quezada batted 2-for-2 with one double and two runs versus the Panthers on April 11.
Anaya batted 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Valencia batted 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Andres and Solis both scored once.
Badillo singled.
Branco, Quezada, Ty Borchardt and Colton Ledbetter combined to surrender three earned runs and four hits with seven strikeouts and nine walks while logging playing time at pitcher.
Central Valley will face third-place Patterson (9-9, 5-5) twice next week.
The Hawks will play host to the Tigers on April 25.
Central Valley will compete at Patterson on April 27.
Both games will begin at 4 p.m.
"We were in a big slump," Quezada said. "This is the spark we need to finish the season strong. Our playoff hopes are slim. I don't think it's going to happen. Now, we're playing for each other."
