The Glendale Vaqueros mounted a late comeback but came up just short in an 8–7 loss to Citrus on Thursday in Western State Conference South play.

Glendale struck first in the third inning when Jackson Lyons tripled to right-center field, driving in Jackson Pratt to give the Vaqueros an early lead. Citrus responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning and added three more in the fourth to take control.

The Vaqueros answered in the fourth inning behind Trevor Lain, who delivered a clutch two-run double to center field to score Jordan Viramontes and Noah Jaquez, tying the game at 3–3. Citrus regained the advantage later in the inning with a three-run home run and added two more runs in the fifth to extend the lead to 8–3.

Glendale made things interesting in the eighth inning. David Lozano and Jackson Lyons helped ignite the rally before Jordan Viramontes launched a towering grand slam, bringing the Vaqueros within one run at 8–7.

Lyons paced the Glendale offense with three hits, including a triple and an RBI, while Lozano added two hits. Jackson Pratt also collected two hits and scored a run in the effort.

On the mound, Jimmy Cafferty struck out seven over four innings, while Tristan Purfoy provided solid relief with three strikeouts across two scoreless frames.

Despite the late push, Glendale was unable to complete the comeback as Citrus held on in the ninth. The Vaqueros move to 11-6-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play.