Southern Section Baseball Playoffs : Same Game, Same Teams, Same Result: Rio Mesa Holds Off Edgewood, 6-1

When Rio Mesa High captured the Southern Section 3-A baseball title last season, one of the steppingstones to the championship was a quarterfinal victory over Edgewood.

On Friday, both teams squared off again in a quarterfinal and a few banners along the outfield fence at Rio Mesa predicted a repeat performance: “Lightning Can Strike Twice” and “Spartans Deja Vu.”

Although they didn’t play like defending champions, Rio Mesa jumped on a tired Edgewood starting pitcher for three runs in the first inning and held on for a 6-1 victory. Rio Mesa (23-4) moves into Tuesday’s semifinal where the Spartans meet Lompoc, an 8-6 winner over Damien. Edgewood finished 19-8.

“We didn’t play one of our better games, but the kids battled the whole way,” Rio Mesa Coach Pat Machado said. “Everybody made a big deal about the rematch, but we just wanted to go out and play baseball. Edgewood just happened to be the name of the team we played.”

Edgewood starter Eric Schumaker entered the game with an “iron-arm” reputation but couldn’t get out of the first inning. Schumaker (13-3) had pitched the previous 38 innings for the Trojans. On Tuesday, Schumaker threw 140 pitches in an 11-inning win over Righetti.

But he lasted only five batters against Rio Mesa. With one out, Schumaker walked Phil White and Heath DeLaTorre. Sean Luft then crushed a full-count fastball over the left-field fence for his eighth home run of the year and a 3-0 lead.

Schumaker walked Darren Romano and threw two balls to Rick Pena before Edgewood Coach Sam Favata brought out the hook and put in right-hander Javier Guerrero.

As Rio Mesa picked up single runs in the third and fourth for a 5-0 lead, Rio Mesa starter Scott Bush (11-0) coasted through the first four innings, working on a one-hitter. With two outs in the fifth, Bush surrendered three straight singles for a run.