Martinez Homer Slams the Door on Bakersfield : Baseball: He caps a grand six-run sixth as Pierce takes sole possession of division lead.

WOODLAND HILLS — Cesar Martinez doesn’t swing for the fences often because his role as the Pierce College leadoff batter is to ignite the Brahma offense.

He sure fueled the fire Thursday but it wasn’t with his usual line-drive hitting and steady glove at second base. He added a new dimension to his game.

Martinez turned slugger, hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning that carried the Brahmas to an 8-6 victory over Bakersfield in a Western State Conference South Division game at Pierce.

The Brahmas (21-16, 16-6) took a one-game lead over Bakersfield (27-12, 15-7) in the division with four games remaining. Pierce won the season series, 3-1.

For a while, it seemed the Brahmas would be chasing Bakersfield the rest of the way.

The Renegades held a 6-2 lead when Pierce exploded for six runs in the sixth, including Martinez’s drive over the left-center field fence.

“All day (Wednesday) I thought about what I could do to contribute,” said Martinez, a 5-foot-9 sophomore from Notre Dame High. “My mom told me (before the at-bat) to hit a home run. I gave her a little wink as I came home.”

The homer, Martinez’s third, came on fastball from Andy Bernard, who replaced Greg Romo (6-2) with one out in the sixth.

Romo limited the Pierce scoring to homers by Mike Glendenning leading off the second and Carlos Nunez leading off the third before losing control in the sixth.

With one out, Glendenning was safe on an error and John Novak walked. Dave Cipolla walked to load the bases.

Casey Cote followed with an infield single that scored Glendenning and Dave Supple walked to score Novak. Bakersfield Coach John Moncier replaced Romo with Bernard, who retired Nunez before Martinez delivered.

The Renegades didn’t go quietly.

Romo led off the ninth with a walk against Jim DeBiase (6-2). John Loveless relieved and hit Cris Dimario with a pitch. On came Brandon Nickens, who retired three consecutive hitters, including Eric Fuller on a smash to diving shortstop Jeff Shapiro for the final out.