Rio Mesa Eases Into First Place
Trailing Buena High by seven runs Tuesday, in a baseball game matching teams tied for first place in the Channel League, Rio Mesa found it difficult to be patient.
Yet Coach Rich Duran simply gnawed his upper lip and advised the Spartans to follow form.
“I told the kids we needed to just peck away and stay within our game,” Duran said. “We didn’t need to go out there and start swinging for the fences.”
The patience paid off in the form of 15 singles and a six-run sixth inning that capped a furious rally and enabled the host Spartans to post a 14-10 win. Rio Mesa (15-5-2 overall, 8-1-2 in league play) pounded 16 hits to take a one-game lead over Buena with three games to play.
Rio Mesa trailed, 8-1, entering the bottom of the third, but Duran didn’t lose confidence.
“Not in this league, in this ballpark, with these kids,” Duran said.
Rio Mesa--which entered the game with a .385 team batting average--rewarded Duran’s faith in the sixth when it erased a 10-8 deficit with six runs on seven hits.
Dmitri Young (three for four) and Carlos Rios each singled and advanced a base on a throwing error, and Mike Mitchell followed with a two-run single that tied the score. Jeff Flores, running for Mitchell, advanced to third when David Soliz’s single was bobbled by center fielder Anthony Morales, then scored on Jon McMullen’s single.
Jamie Liddell followed with a run-scoring single that extended the lead to 12-10. With two out, Angel Lopez (three hits) capped the rally with a two-run single.
“We needed to execute, and that’s exactly what our kids did,” Duran said.
For the first five innings, though, it looked as if Rio Mesa would be executed. Especially after Morales’ two-run home run had given Buena (16-5-2, 7-2-2) an 8-1 lead.
“When you’re up 8-1, you should win,” Buena Coach Stan Hedegard said. “It’s just devastating.”
Rio Mesa pulled within 8-5 with a four-run third highlighted by consecutive run-scoring singles by Rios (two hits, three RBIs), Mitchell (two hits, three RBIs) and Soliz. Tom Lyle’s two-run home run extended Buena’s lead to 10-5, but Carlos Cendejas’ two-out, two-run single pulled Rio Mesa within two runs in the fifth.