Errors doom Arroyo Seco baseball in 4-3 loss
COMPTON — When the Arroyo Seco Saints Palomino 19-and-under baseball team is playing well, typically it’s easy to tell.
The Saints, a squad that includes several locals from Glendale Community College and St. Francis High, are backing up their strong offense and sturdy pitching with flawless base-running and tough defense.
On the flip side, it’s the latter two qualities that are in question when Arroyo Seco struggles and ultimately loses with Saturday evening once again proving the formula true.
Despite outhitting the host South Bay Legacy by a two-to-one margin, the Saints committed crucial gaffes and are on the brink of elimination after a 4-3 loss Saturday evening in the West Zone Tournament at the Urban Youth Academy in Compton.
The setback thrusts the Saints into do-or-die mode in the double-elimination tournament as Arroyo Seco faces the prospects of two games Sunday, the first taking place at 1:30 p.m. back at Compton versus the Urban Youth Academy.
Should Arroyo Seco win and keep its season alive, the Saints would then have another crack at the South Bay Legacy, also on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
While the Saints outhit the Legacy, 6-3, they committed three errors and had one base-running mistake that turned fatal.
“This is exactly what’s come to be expected of this team,” Arroyo Seco Coach Aaron Milam said. “When we play defense and run the base paths well, we win. When we don’t, we lose. It’s a little disappointing that we’re in this position.”
Arroyo Seco trailed, 4-3, in the sixth inning when clean-up hitter Justin Bardwell reached on a leadoff walk. Despite a strikeout and pop up from Arroyo Seco’s next two batters, Bardwell moved into scoring position on a stolen base.
Bardwell was then pinch-run for with Arroyo Seco’s Frankie Garriola at the dish. Garriola singled into the hole at short, but shortstop Aaron Pleschner dove and kept the ball from reaching the outfield.
Arroyo Seco’s pinch-runner was not aware that the ball was kept in the infield and was subsequently thrown out after rounding third base.
The base-running error represented Arroyo Seco’s last gasp as the squad went down in order in the seventh versus Legacy starter Josh Chestnut, who allowed three earned runs and fanned seven in the win.
Arroyo Seco pulled to within 4-3 versus Chestnut and South Bay in the fifth inning when the team scored a run on three singles, with leadoff batter Gabriel Chavez plating St. Francis High product Andres Kim.
The Saints had runners on first and second with two outs, but Chestnut escaped thanks to a punch out.
Arroyo Seco initially trailed, 2-0, after three innings before pulling even in the top of the fourth.
With two outs, Bardwell doubled to center and Jared Akins followed with his second home run in as many nights, a two-run laser that smacked off the light pole and knotted the game at 2.
“I was just looking for a good pitch and to put something in play like last night,” said Akins, a GCC player. “I’ve been seeing the ball well the last two games.”
The tie was short-lived, however, as the Legacy responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to go back up, 4-2.
Both runs scored on a throwing error by pitcher Kevin Baker to the plate on a comebacker in which he overthrew catcher Bardwell, which allowed two runners to score.
“I have to point the finger at myself, I just rushed a throw home,” said Baker, a former St. Francis standout who allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits with eight strikeouts in six innings. “I thought I was dominating them and they scored on errors.”
South Bay scored first with a pair of runs in the second that were aided by a fielding error and a throwing error.
Despite the loss and the mistakes, Milam was optimistic afterward.
“Hey, we’ve been here before,” Milam said. “The Legacy beat us in this exact game last year and we came back. That’s what we’re going to have to do again.
“The good news for us is that we know what we have to do. If we play defense, we’ll win. If we limit mistakes, we’ll win. It’s as simple as that.”