Dos Pueblos Lets a 7-2 Lead and Rio Mesa Get Away in the Fourth, 9-8

After the last out in the top of the seventh inning, Rio Mesa’s Heath DeLaTorre leaped from the pitcher’s mound, cocked his right index finger and thumb, and then planted three imaginary bullets into the back of his first strikeout victim of the afternoon.

“He had hit the home run earlier, and I didn’t want him to do it again,” said DeLaTorre of Dos Pueblos’ pitcher Dan Reveles. “I just threw him three straight fastballs and he didn’t touch them.”

In the bottom of the inning, Art Espinoza scored the winning run as the Spartans beat Dos Pueblos, 9-8, in Friday’s Channel League game at Rio Mesa.

Espinoza scored from third with one out when Dos Pueblos’ second baseman Steve Pickering bobbled Phil Maquinalez’s ground ball, bringing an end to a wild game.

DeLaTorre came into the game with one out and a man on second and, after giving up a game-tying single, retired the side.

“Everyone is saying I gave up the tying run just so I could get the win,” the Spartans’ regular shortstop said. “But that wasn’t true at all.”

The real truth is that DeLaTorre kept Rio Mesa in the game.

In the midst of a six-run fourth inning that erased a 7-2 Chargers’ lead, DeLaTorre slammed a three-run homer to straightaway center field and over the 360-foot mark. While circling the bases he shot a couple more invisible projectiles toward Dos Pueblos’ Pickering and Craig Speier, who were standing behind second base.

“We don’t like each other much, as you probably could tell,” DeLaTorre said of the intra-league rivalry. “I knew they were going to battle back and that we needed a couple more runs.”

The senior right-hander finished 3 for 3 with three runs batted in and two walks. DeLaTorre was walked intentionally in the seventh so eventual losing pitcher Gary Trent could face Maquinalez, who had problems at the plate despite hitting a two-run homer in the first.

“He had been struggling all day long, despite the dinger,” Rio Mesa Coach Pat Machado said. “It’s a wonder he could see the ball, not to mention hit it.”

By the seventh inning, the sun had almost set behind the left-field scoreboard.

Machado has no question about DeLaTorre’s value in tight games.

“He’s very consistent and a great clutch hitter,” Machado said of his shortstop.

DeLaTorre wasn’t the only Spartan hitting. Phil White had two doubles, an RBI and a walk in five trips, and Sean Luft was 2 for 2 with two walks. Rio Mesa, which received 10 walks, had 11 hits.

The Spartans did have some difficulties on the basepaths, however.

“We didn’t play a real good ballgame,” Machado said. “We ran ourselves out of too many innings.”

Rio Mesa almost ran itself out of the winning run in the seventh. Mike Runge reached first on an error to lead off, but was gunned down when he tried to move to third on a sacrifice bunt by Espinoza. Espinoza was safe when the ball bounded away from Chargers’ first baseman Chris Wulfsberg.

Dos Pueblos batters produced 10 hits but had only one after Rio Mesa sophomore Rick Valdez replaced Maquinalez with two outs in the fourth.

Maquinalez, who is 5-0 as a starting pitcher, relieved starter Brad Horton in the third.

“For Valdez to come in and throw the way he did is quite a tribute to him,” Machado said.

Dos Pueblos built its five-run lead with one in the first, four in the third and two in the fourth.

Reveles, who pitched the first five innings, had a solo home run in the first and singled to drive in a run in the third.

Dos Pueblos has lost six straight after reaching the final of the Thousand Oaks tournament. The Chargers lost to Thousand Oaks in the title game, 4-3.

Rio Mesa, ranked No. 3 in the Times’ Valley poll, is 13-2 overall and 6-0 in league. Dos Pueblos fell to 7-7 and 1-5 in league.