PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Banning Pitcher Hangs In and Beats Narbonne, 5-2

There comes a time when Banning High baseball Coach Syl Saavedra expects a player to respond.

Pilots pitcher Chico Limas reached that point Wednesday afternoon.

Limas, a hard-throwing junior right-hander who had no record entering the game, was teetering on the edge, his coach said. Wednesday’s game against visiting Narbonne was a make-or-break situation for Limas, Saavedra said.

This round went to Limas, who tossed a four-hitter and helped his cause with a two-run homer to lead Banning to a 5-2 Marine League victory.

The Pilots improved to 2-0 in league play and 5-2 overall, while Narbonne fell to 0-2 and 1-3-2.

“If he lost today, I think we might have lost him as a pitcher,” Saavedra said. “I think he might have come to me and said, ‘Coach, that’s it.’ But he hung in there and got the job done.

“I think the wind helped give him some confidence. He was in control the whole game.”

The Pilots were in a 1-1 tie heading into the bottom of the fifth when they broke the deadlock with a run. Banning added three in the sixth and Narbonne scored a run in the seventh.

In the fifth, Banning’s Henry Carrillo, who blooped a triple down the first-base line, was thrown out at third when Eric Fierro tried squeezing him home with a bunt. Fierro reached base and was balked to second. He scored on Jesse Espinoza’s single to left.

Ricardo Bernal led off the Banning sixth with a walk and came home on John Otte’s triple. Limas then homered to put the Pilots ahead by 5-1.

“I was happier with the pitching more than the homer,” said Limas, Banning’s No. 2 starter. “But it felt good to hit that. I was waiting for our bats to come around. I didn’t know I was waiting for mine too.”

Narbonne struck first with a run in the second. Greg Coleman reached base on an error, stole second and went to third on a deep fly to right. Marcos Carranza, who had three hits, drove home Coleman with a single.

Gauchos catcher Mauricio Martinez kept his team in the game by throwing out four runners, including two in the fourth. Martinez also orchestrated the play that cut down Carrillo at third, barking out orders to pitcher Mondo Vega to get the lead runner.

Anthony Essien started for Narbonne, pitching four scoreless innings while allowing four hits. He was replaced by Vega to start the fifth.

“Historically, he starts tiring around then,” said Narbonne Coach John Getz. “And he’d been using a lot of pitches. I had the reserves there and I thought I’d try to give Banning a different look.”

Narbonne scored in the seventh when Jason Harris reached first on an error and went to second on a wild pitch. Harris scored on Carranza’s third hit and pinch-hitter Eddie Maisonet followed with a single.

The Narbonne rally ended when Maisonet was thrown out trying to steal.

“It was all my decision,” Getz said. “We just thought we could catch them sleeping.”

San Pedro 20, Locke 4--The Pirates ran their record to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the Marine League with an easy win at home. San Pedro will play host to Banning in an important league game next Wednesday.

Bel-Air Prep 10, Serra 9--After falling behind 10-1 after four innings, Serra rallied but stranded the potential tying and winning runs in the seventh inning in the quarterfinals of the Serra Tournament.

The Cavaliers (2-6) pulled within one run when Chris Aldridge hit an RBI double and moved Chris Jones to third with no outs in the seventh. The next batter struck out, a botched squeeze play resulted in Jones being thrown out at home and another strikeout ended the game.

Jones finished with a home run and three RBI, while Paul Beaman had two singles and two RBI for Serra.