Photos by Robert Ketterling
College Baseball:
The Andy Smith era got off to a solid start on Friday afternoon.
Citrus trailed Fullerton after the Hornets scored three runs in the top of the second inning.
However, Conner Luetto, Ryan Harrison, Sean York and Evan Ellis would combine to toss seven scoreless innings the rest of the way.
The Owls got single runs in the first, fourth, fifth and seven innings to take a 4-3 lead.
And Citrus got five in the bottom of the eighth to give Ellis far more than he needed to close out win No. 1 of the 2026 season.
The Owls had a 5-2 advantage in extra-base hits.
Fullerton committed four errors compared to one for Citrus.
Luetto went 4 2/3 innings, and he was charged with three runs on five hits.
He issued one walk and fanned four.
All of Fullerton’s three runs came via the long ball.
Sean Green’s solo shot in the top of the second inning tied the game at 1-1.
And former Ayala stud Vinny Hudson hit a two-run shot.
Harrison (2 1/3 IP), York (1) and Ellis (1) combined to go 4 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed five hits.
The Citrus trio didn’t allow a walk and they struck out four.
Hudson went 2-for-4.
Nate Pone had a pair of singles in the loss.
Sage Nelson went the first four innings for the Hornets, and he was charged with two runs on five hits.
Nelson didn’t issue a walk, and he struck out five Owls.
Will Valenzuela was saddled with the loss after surrendering six runs (two earned) on four hits over 2 1/3 innings.
Valenzuela issued one walk and fanned a pair of Citrus batters.
Jordan Daniels had a huge opening day for the Owls.
The former Chaffey star went 3-for-4, including a solo home run, an RBI single and a two-run double.
Cam Casado singled twice, doubled and scored a pair of runs.
Julian Hines doubled and scored.
Dominick Torrez went 2-for-4 with a run and one RBI.
Cole West walked, had an RBI double and scored.
Garrett Patterson’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning stretched the Owls lead to 5-3.
Derek Almeda had an RBI fielder’s choice and he scored once.
Nick Velazquez singled and scored from the leadoff spot.
After 110 wins (110-59) at Chaffey College, the 34-year-old Smith is excited to lead Citrus baseball into the future.
Up next: The Owls host Pasadena City College on Saturday at
The Lancers (0-1) dropped an 11-3 decision at Cypress in their season opener.
The Chargers had eight extra-base hits to none for PCC.
The first pitch is set for 1.
Quotable:
Citrus coach, Andy Smith: “Our pitchers did an outstanding job, allowing just one walk. Luetto battled with a warrior and threw a lot of strikes today. They had two big swings against Conner and he battled, and our bullpen was light’s out after that. In spite of the score, it wasn’t a great offensive performance relative to what our potential is, but the mark of our team is being relentless and we kept battling.”
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Box Score:
F: 0-3-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-(3)
C: 1-0-0-1-1-0-1-5-x-(9)
Win: Ryan Harrison
Loss: Will Valenzuela
HR: Sean Green (F), Vinny Hudson (F); Jordan Daniels (C)
2B: Julian Hines (C), Jordan Daniels (C), Cam Casado (C), Cole West (C)
Records: Fullerton (0-1); Citrus (1-0)
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