Saugus Has Everything but Luck on Its Side, 2-1

Saugus High tried everything in its bag of tricks against visiting El Rancho on Friday, but nothing worked.

“They threw the whole gamut at us,” El Rancho Coach Ben Meza said. “But we were on to their stuff.”

Saugus, the Golden League champion, failed in attempting both a suicide squeeze play and a delayed double-steal of home. The Centurions even came up empty on their well-choreographed “phantom pickoff play,” in which the infield tries to trap baserunners by chasing an imaginary wild throw.

As a result, El Rancho (18-5) defeated the Centurions, 2-1, eliminating them in the first round of the Southern Section 2-A playoffs.

“We’d been successful by attacking all year,” Saugus Coach Doug Worley said. “There was no reason not to be now. I didn’t think we were very lucky.”

Saugus (18-6) had at least one pickoff in 14 straight games and a school season-record 31. But losing pitcher Roger Salkeld (9-4) threw to each base all afternoon and didn’t pick off anyone.

“We knew that they had various pickoff moves,” Meza said. “And that phantom play--we’d seen the University of Texas do that on ESPN.”

El Rancho took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Salkeld walked Javier Rubio with the bases loaded to score David Duran.

Saugus tied the score in the fourth when freshman Rob Davis, who was 3 for 3, singled to score Don Pedersen and send Tom Dodson to third. The rally died when Dodson was caught trying to score on the front end of a double steal.

“That was the first time we’d been stopped on that play,” Worley said. “They had a good scouting report.”

Saugus had an earlier rally halted in the second inning when Mike Szoke failed to lay down a bunt with Jared Snyder racing home from third. Snyder was tagged out and injured his ankle on the play, forcing him to leave the game.

El Rancho was more successful in its execution. In the fifth inning, Rubio stole home for the winning run while Abdom Pinon was trapped between first and second.

“He’s the guy we wanted in that situation,” Meza said of Pinon, who also pitched a complete game to improve his record to 8-3. “He’s our best baserunner.”

Said Worley: “Give them credit. They made all the plays. We lost to a good team.”