When Antioch High’s baseball team absolutely had to make something happen on Tuesday, it came through.

The Panthers rallied to defeat Freedom 4-3 in the Bay Valley Athletic League opener in a game that featured several tense moments.

After the two teams played to a 2-2 tie after seven innings, the Falcons drew first blood in extra frames. A single by senior Jesse Swenson in the eighth inning drove in senior Joe Olmos to give Freedom a 3-2 lead.

In Antioch’s half of the eighth, sophomore Troy Vanerstrom led off with a first-pitch single. Vanerstrom found himself on third after throwing errors by the catcher and right fielder. He dashed for home on a wild pitch to tie the game up.

Panthers (4-6, 1-0 BVAL) senior catcher Anthony Borrelli drew a walk in the next at-bat, and later senior outfielder Joe Chatham was hit by a pitch. With two outs, senior Ronny Brohman connected with a fastball for a single to bring Borrelli home.

“A close game like this is always fun,” said Brohman, who also won the game in relief. “It’s even better when it’s won in walk-off fashion. If it weren’t me, it would’ve been the guy behind me.”

Antioch also got a valiant effort from sophomore starting pitcher David Quintero, who went 7.1 innings, fanning five Falcons (4-8-1, 0-1 BVAL). Quintero for most of the game was locked into a pitcher’s duel with Freedom junior Miguel Carvajal, who struck out six in six innings.

Though Falcons manager Gary Alexander felt his team’s performance could’ve been better, he was impressed by Carvajal’s pitching. “He’s had two really good outings in a row,” Alexander said. “He deserved to win that game.”

Antioch got on the scoreboard initially on a first-inning RBI single from senior first baseman Troy Amate. Freedom answered in the next frame with an RBI hit from Shea Sbranti and a sacrifice fly by TJ Briggs to make it 2-1. The Panthers tied the game in the sixth inning on a Chatham single.

Vanerstrom finished 3-for-4; Amate 2-for-4. Brohman took the mound in the eighth inning, earning the decision after the Panthers came back to win.

Click here to view a photo gallery from this game.

Deer Valley 2, Liberty 0

Senior pitcher Ricky Delgado struck out six Lions in Deer Valley’s 2-0 victory over Liberty on Tuesday. Jordan Gough and Marcos Martinez drove in the game’s only two runs for Deer Valley (13-1, 1-0 BVAL), both in the fourth inning.

Lions (5-7, 0-1 BVAL) senior Stevan Zaharias was saddled with the loss, but pitched well, fanning eight Wolverines and walking none.

Pittsburg 2, Heritage 0

Thanks to solid pitching by Malik Watson, the Pirates claimed a 2-0 victory over Heritage on Tuesday.Watson fanned nine Patriots, spreading five hits over a complete-game shutout effort for Pittsburg (5-9, 1-0 BVAL).

Senior Paul Blackburn went 2-for-4 for Heritage (8-7, 0-1 BVAL). Mason Sargent also came through with two hits for the Patriots.