The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes won what was arguably their most exciting game of the season on Thursday night beating their rival Inland Empire 66ers (Angels) 8-7 in 11 innings. Having already lost the first two games of the series, the Quakes were desperately trying to avoid being swept in front of the home town crowd at the Epicenter.

The Quakes got on the board first after a leadoff triple by rehabbing Dodger Adam Kennedy, who was cashed in one batter later on an infield ground out by Quakes slugger Joc Pederson. That 1-0 lead vanished in the 3rd inning when 66ers right fielder Drew Heid slugged a solo home run to right field off of Quakes starter Angel Sanchez.

Rehabbing Dodger Adam Kennedy had a great game on Thursday night, going 2 for 3 with a triple and a base hit. The big question is – where does he fit into the Dodgers 25-man roster?

The 66ers added another run in the 4th inning on doubles by Randal Grichuk and Jose Jimenez, but the Quakes countered in the bottom of the 4th when Pederson led off the inning with a walk, which was followed by a home run to (very) deep center field by Quakes right fielder Bobby Coyle. Coyle picked up another RBI in the 5th inning when he singled in catcher Jan Vasquez, who had singled himself and advanced to second on yet another single by Kennedy to give the Quakes a 4-2 lead.

Quakes right hander Eammon Portice came on in relief of Sanchez in the 6th inning and pitched two scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out two.

Things got interesting in the 8th inning when Quakes manager Juan Bustabad brought in recently promoted  left-hander Michael Thomas, who gave up a leadoff walk and a single. Just when it appeared as though Thomas might get out of trouble, Quakes second baseman Scott Wingo fumbled what should have been an inning-ending double play ball allowing the 66ers to get to within a run of the Quakes at 4-3. Busty made another pitching change bringing in right-hander Bret Montgomery, who ended the inning. Montgomery remained in the game to pitch the 9th inning and hopefully pick up his first save of the season but was, instead, greeted with a leadoff double by Heid, who scored on consecutive sacrifice fly balls to tie the score at 4-4 (and a blown save for Montgomery). The Quakes were unable to score in their half of the 9th, thus forcing the game into extra innings.

The 66ers quickly took the lead in the top of the 10th on a leadoff home run to left field by Grichuk off of Montgomery. Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the 10th, 66ers reliever Daniel Tillman hit Wingo, walked Pederson, and gave up a bunt single to Coyle to load the bases with no outs. Tillman then walked Quakes left fielder Austin Gallagher to tie the score at 5-5 and leaving the bases still loaded and no outs. With 27 ways to score a run from third base with less that two outs, the Quakes used none of them, as Tillman struck out Angelo Songco, Pedro Baez and Chris Jacobs to miraculously end the inning and leaving the Quakes devastated.

Things quickly went from bad to worse in the top of 11th when Quakes right-hander Ryan O’Sullivan allowed two runs on two singles, a walk, and the Quakes inability to turn a double play.

Down 7-5 heading into the bottom of the 11th things looked bad for the Quakes… real bad. The 66ers brought in submarine pitcher Eric Cendejas to close out the game… and this is when things really got interesting.

There was a young boy sitting behind me who was maybe 9 years old. He and I had been having an on-going (and very enjoyable) conversation. It was clear that this youngster had never seen a submarine pitcher before when he asked me “Is that guy throwing underhand?” I explained to the young man that his below-the-belt delivery was referred to as a submarine pitch. The young boy immediately said “It must be really hard to hit a pitch like that.” I told him that it was, but quickly added that it is also very hard to throw a submarine pitch accurately.

As if by prophecy, Cendejas hit Quakes catcher Jan Vasquez in the… well… in the cup (thank God Vasquez is a catcher and was wearing one). He then walked Quakes shortstop Casio Grider. With no outs and runners on first and second, everybody in the ballpark (and there weren’t very many by this time) knew that Scott Wingo was going to sacrifice bunt, which he did… but it wasn’t a sacrifice – Wingo reached base safely (I neglected to mention that Scott Wingo is very fast).

The stage was now set – bases loaded with no outs (again), with the winning run on first base. But wait… there’s more! Coming to the plate was the Quakes best power hitter and the Dodgers top outfield prospect Joc Pederson, with their next best hitter Bobby Coyle on deck. If a miracle was going to happen, it was going to happen right now…

…and it did.

Joc Pederson’s walk-off triple was a storybook ending to one of the best Minor League games I have ever witnessed.

Pederson absolutely laced an Eric Cendejas submarine pitch off the right field wall scoring Vasquez, Grider, and Wingo all the way from first base (did I mention that Scott Wingo is fast?)  for an absolutely unbelievable 3-run walk-off triple to give the Quakes an exciting 8-7 victory.

Pederson is swarmed at third base after his game-winning triple.