Valencia spent five innings chasing Crespi and the next four burying them, winning 8-4 in a nine-inning Saturday in Encino.

Cole DeYoung's leadoff double built a quick 1-0 lead, but Crespi answered with three runs in two innings, two of them on a bases-loaded walk and a fielder's choice in a second inning that ended with Tyler Wertz throwing out a base stealer. From there the staff shut the door by strikeout: Justin Gaisford fanned six across the middle innings, striking out the side in the third, with Wertz catching nine third strikes on the day.

The sixth flipped it. Gaisford doubled, Francisco Velazquez Jr. singled home the courtesy runner, and Jack Yamamura ripped a two-run double past short for the lead; an error made it 5-3. Crespi pulled within one on an unearned run, but Steven Genovese, who takes the win, stranded the tying runner with a caught-stealing that ended the sixth mid-at-bat.

The insurance came in waves: Carter Bennett's single and Ripken Ely's RBI double in the eighth, then a walk, two errors, and Kade Breech's RBI single in the ninth. Jordan Ramos retired the last five hitters he needed to, and Valencia's twelve hits, spread across ten different players, closed January at 12-8.