PASADENA, CA- Coming into its game against the MLB Academy Barons, the Arroyo Seco Saints lost the last two games and were looking to go into the all-star break, avoiding its first three-game losing streak of the summer.

With the come-from-behind 7-3 win on Sunday night, the Saints (15-12) can go into the CCL all-star break on a positive note.

“[Going into the break with a win] is big because we can take three days off just to relax and reset our brains,” third baseman Easton Elliot (Long Beach State) said.

The Saints got an excellent start from pitcher Danny Veloz (Hawaii). Veloz still hasn’t allowed a run at home and has a 0.00 ERA in 10 innings.

“[Danny’s] just getting ahead of every batter, getting strike one to start every single inning, it’s big time for sure,” Elliot said on what it’s like playing defense behind Veloz.

Veloz gave credit to catcher Nick Lazzara (Trinity) for his great outing, saying he “trusted every pitch he threw down.”

He allowed his only hit of the night on a double from Barons center fielder Zach Freeman (Ohio State), the second batter Veloz faced of the night.

Saints designated hitter Alex Birge (UC Berkley) got the Saints on board in the bottom of the first, scoring on a throwing error following a double by shortstop Adrian Lopez (USC).

Arroyo Seco added its second run in the following inning on an RBI double from Elliot.

The closest the Barons got to scoring against Veloz came in the fourth when they opened up the inning with two straight walks. Veloz left unharmed as he got a flyout, strikeout and a force out.

Elliot’s double wasn’t his only highlight of the night, as he made a great over-the-shoulder catch in the fifth for Veloz’s last out of the night.

“Once I saw it up, I thought, no way he gets there,” Veloz said. “That’s a big-time play.”

“When he hit it, I kind of went in. I got a bad jump on it, but I ended up catching it,” Elliot said.

MLB Academy scored its first run of the night against Saints reliever Damian Pasillas (Azusa Pacific) in the sixth inning.

After trailing for the entirety of the game, the Barons jumped ahead in the top of the seventh. Pasillas loaded the bases by hitting two batters and walking the other. Following the second hit by pitch, Pasillas was removed for Jace Presley (portal), who immediately gave up the tying run on a walk and then gave up the lead with a wild pitch.

Center fielder Crew McChesney (BYU) led off the bottom of the inning with a walk but was unable to score after the next three hitters were retired.

Presley rebounded from his difficult seventh inning by picking up two strikeouts in a scoreless eighth inning.

Arroyo Seco took the lead in the eighth, with Lopez and first baseman Eli Watson (portal) both scoring on throwing errors. Elliot added his second RBI of the night on a fielder’s choice, which scored second baseman Sheehan O’Connor (New Mexico State). It added two more runs on an RBI single from left fielder Jakob Schardt (Cal State Fullerton).

In the ninth, Braydon Sanford (Oral Roberts) continued his dominance on the mound (1.23 ERA) with a scoreless ninth to seal the 7-3 win for the Saints.

After the three day break, the Saints return to Jackie Robinson Field to face the Barons once again.

• Saints reporter Dylan Gonzales (Fresno State)
• Saints photographer Armando Jacobo (Long Beach)