Deanthony Johnson led off the opening stanza with a double and scored on a sacrifice flyout by Sam Marrinan for a 1-0 Aquinas lead.
Maranatha threatened with runners on 2nd and 3rd against one out in its half of that inning but were foiled by Falcon center fielder Carlos Huerta tilting down in left-center for a catch before Andrew Aguilera got the third out as Alec Ainger lasered a line drive straight into his glove.
It wasn’t too long until the Minutemen drew even. Brent Kinsman (2-3, 2 runs) led off the 2nd with a base hit before careening home via a double error on a misplayed ground ball up the 5-6 hole hit by Ray Kim, for a 1-1 tie.
The Minutemen turned the tide its way for good with four runs in the fourth, led by a go-ahead two run single by Kosmo Brown (1-3, run) and RBI double out of Shane Kinsman (1-3).
Helio Higley broke up what would’ve been an inning ending double play and reached on fielder’s choice, before stealing 2nd base and cashing in off an outfield error on Max Heefner’s third base hit up the 3-4 hole to cap out the scoring. Heefner finished 3 for 4 at bat with two stolen bases.
Maranatha will trek up the 210, 5, and 14 freeways on its way to the High Desert for its next matchup (a first-round game) at Paraclete on Friday.
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