Walnut Creek falls to Arroyo Seco in extra innings after walkoff

After a closely fought game, Walnut Creek fell to Arroyo Seco 7-6 on a tenth-inning walkoff on Wednesday night, moving to 18-6 in 2026.

Off the back of a dominant 19-4 win against Menlo Park the day before, the Crawdads looked to start off a three-game road streak hot.

Walnut Creek had the opening it needed on the bump. Sophomore Alessandro Martinez had the longest outing of a Crawdad in 2026, going five innings of four-hit, one-run ball while striking out three.

While his five innings set a new bar for Crawdad pitchers, he nearly did not hit that mark. With one on and two out, coach Brant Cummings went to the mound to speak with Martinez. Wanting to stay in the game, Martinez made his request.

"We had a conversation before," Martinez said. " I had maybe one or two batters left, but when I picked that guy off, I had a boost of energy, so I could probably get two here. When he came out, I told him I could get this last one, and he let me do it, and I got it." 

Martinez exited the game with the Crawdads up 5-1, much in part to strong offense in the middle of the game.

Walnut Creek posted a three-run fourth and two-run fifth, led by sophomore catcher Riley Winchell and sophomore outfielder Dylan Perez both picking up two-RBI hits.

A comeback from the Saints had Walnut Creek stuck against a wall. Down 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth, clutch hitting from the Crawdads helped force extra innings.

After a single from sophomore infielder Lucas Carlisle, who advanced to second on a groundout, sophomore all star TJ Woodson tied the game with an RBI double in a very clutch moment.

Igniting the Crawdad dugout, Woodson knew the game would go past the top of the ninth.

"We're never going to give up," Woodson said. "That's what we said all year. We're going to fight till the very end. We got great hitters up and down through the lineup. We can do it at any point, but we just got to be more consistent."

Despite the loss in the tenth inning, Walnut Creek still had success at the plate. Eight of nine starters picked up a hit in Pasadena, the only exception being senior all star Ryan Ellis, who walked twice against the Saints.

With a second matchup against Arroyo Seco set for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Cummings spoke about what the Crawdads could do differently to find a different result.

"They're going to have to make adjustments as hitters," Cummings said. "We're going to have to throw more strikes in the middle of the game, start to finish, and we'll have a chance."