On Feb. 27 Skyline starts conference play with a 5-1 victory over Hartnell College. Skyline Pitcher Daniel Madigan throws a complete game with seven strike-outs to bring his record to 2-2 on the season. Hartnell rolled into Skyline winning five of its last six.

The first inning was rough for Skyline as missed opportunities cost them chances to score, as Hartnell Pitcher Zane Breschini walked two batters in the inning, putting them in scoring position. Yet Skyline could not take advantage as Lance Montano and Armando Fajardo both struck out, leaving the team with 2 outs. They still had one more shot to score first, but a miraculous catch by Hartnell outfielder Matt Flores stopped any chance of Skyline scoring.

It was a back and forth affair between the two teams, both defenses were making countless plays, the game was still scoreless going into the fourth inning. During the fourth inning Lucci Molina of Skyline led off with a double to get the crowd pumped up for a much needed rally. Pitches later, he advances on a wide pitch and was standing at third with no outs.

Yet Skyline could not capitalize again as Armando Fajardo stikes out. It wasn’t until Joey Carney singled to give Skyline the 1-0 lead. It was at this point as the Hartnell pitcher was beginning to fold that the bases were loaded with only 1 out. The next score comes via a walk by the Hartnell pitcher to make it 2-0. Skyline was only beginning to heat up on offense as Michael Franco singled to push the lead to 3-0.

The fifth inning was key as Skyline kept Hartnell from scoring. In the sixth inning Skyline extended its lead further as Lance Montano had a base hit to make it 4-0. Hartnell continued to hurt themselves as they gave away another run by hitting Lucci Molina with the bases loaded giving Skyline a 5-0 lead with not many innings left for Hartnell to make a run.

The seventh and eighth inning were pitch flawlessly by Daniel Madigan, only one batter reached base those two inning and the defense helped with no errors in the game. Hartnell scored once in the ninth inning as Shane Sudsbury singled to make it 5-1, but it did not matter as a ground out ended the game.

Keeping the momentum was a huge key for Skyline in this game as they came off a huge victory over Cosumnes Rivers College and Hartnell, as their record stands at 5-8. The next home game is Saturday March 8 against Ohlone college.