Arroyo Seco Saints bats cooled off in 3-1 defeat

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Saints’ Jared Akins gets a hit against Indian Wells during a game on Monday, July 27, 2015. (Roger Wilson/Staff Photographer)

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Saints’ pitcher Danny Bustos fires a shot against Indian Wells during a game on Monday, July 27, 2015. (Roger Wilson/Staff Photographer)

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Saints’ Frank Garriola tags Indian Wells’ David Hill out at third during a game on Monday, July 27, 2015. (Roger Wilson/Staff Photographer)

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Saints’ Grant Woodward tries for the tag as Indian Wells’ Dominique Hernandez makes it to first base during a game on Monday, July 27, 2015. (Roger Wilson/Staff Photographer)

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Saints’ catcher Kaleb Murphy waits for the throw as Indian Wells’ Josh Meyers scores a run during a game on Monday, July 27, 2015. (Roger Wilson/Staff Photographer)

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Saints’ Gabriel Chavez gets tagged out at second by Indian Wells’ Blaine Bays during a game on Monday, July 27, 2015. (Roger Wilson/Staff Photographer)

By Charles Rich, <em><a href=”mailto:charles.rich@latimes.com”>charles.rich@latimes.com</a></em>

July 27, 2015 10:22 PM PT

PASADENA — After scoring 30 runs and blanking its opponents in the first two games of the Palomino Super Regional Tournament, the members of the Arroyo Seco Saints 19-and-under summer baseball team were stymied Monday night.

What few scoring chances Arroyo Seco, featuring several players from St. Francis High and Glendale Community College, had were squandered. Now, the Saints find themselves on the cusp off seeing their season come to a close.

Arroyo Seco managed just two hits and stranded four runners in a 3-1 loss against the Indian Wells Valley Youth Sidewinders at Jackie Robinson Field.

PHOTOS: Arroyo Seco bats stymied in 3-1 loss

Arroyo Seco and Indian Wells Valley will meet in an elimination game at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday at Jackie Robinson Field. The winner will then face the Arcadia Astros in the tournament’s championship contest at 7 at the same venue. The finalists will automatically qualify for the West Zone Tournament, which will begin Friday at the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in Compton.

Indian Wells Valley starting pitcher Josh Meyers kept Arroyo Seco off balance Monday, striking out five in a complete-game outing.

“He just pitched a great game and threw a lot of off-speed stuff,” said Arroyo Seco Coach Aaron Milam, whose team opened the tournament with 15-0 wins against Indian Wells Valley on Friday and the Pomona Titans on Saturday. “We rolled two teams by the same scores and then we just came out flat.

“We have a team that’s a little bipolar. Maybe they thought it’s a game we should have won. It came down to pitching and [Meyers] did the job for them. We have to now be able to come back with more focus and be prepared.”

The Sidewinders, who won their third straight game in the tournament, scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the second inning to build a 3-0 lead against Saints starting pitcher Danny Bustos. The first four batters recorded hits against Bustos, a right-hander. Cole Martin had a run-scoring single to make it 1-0 and David Hill had an RBI single to extend the lead to 2-0. Jerimiah Johnson then blooped a hit in between the shortstop and center fielder to extend the advantage to 3-0.

In the fourth, Arroyo Seco had runners on second and third with no outs. Meyers responded by getting a 3-2 double play before escaping the jam with a force-out.

Arroyo Seco scored its only run in the fifth. Jared Akins of Glendale college was hit by a pitch to lead off and moved to second on a bunt single by Rahman Williams Jr. Following Williams’ bunt, the first baseman made a wild throw into left field trying to get Akins out at second. Akins scored from second base.

Arroyo Seco reliever pitcher Andrew Kim (St. Francis) relieved Bustos to begin the third and tossed five scoreless innings. Kim, an All-Mission League selection, struck out six and surrendered four hits.