Buena Knocks Off Rio Mesa, 3-2, Pulls Within a Game of First Place

On the ropes in the Channel League baseball race, Buena High is still standing Friday after eking out a 3-2 victory over first-place Rio Mesa.

Anthony Morales smacked a two-out, two-run double in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie and John Cooper made those runs stand up as he held the heavy-hitting Spartans (15-6, 8-4 in league play) to just five hits.

Morales came through with a shot into the right-center-field gap to score pinch-runner Nate Houchin and Paul Wood as the Bulldogs (9-9, 7-5) turned a two-out rally into a much-needed win.

Cooper was stung by solo home runs by Mike Mitchell and Sam Garcia in the fourth and seventh innings but kept Rio Mesa in check the rest of the way, allowing only three harmless singles.

Humiliated, 14-0, by Ventura on Tuesday, Buena not only kept its playoff hopes alive by beating the Spartans, it pulled to within a game of first place.

“I’m sure the Bulldogs were written off after Tuesday’s embarrassment,” Buena Coach Stan Hedegard said. “Usually by now, one team is several games ahead in our league, but we just brought (Rio Mesa) back into the pack.”

Five teams--Rio Mesa, Buena, Santa Barbara, Hueneme and Dos Pueblos--are still in the hunt for a league championship and one of three playoff berths.

It was the third loss in a row for Rio Mesa, which lost a suspended game and a regular contest Tuesday to Dos Pueblos.

“We’re not a very good baseball team right now,” Rio Mesa Coach Rich Duran said. “You’ve got to find a way to win close games and we’re not winning them.”

The Spartans were lucky to be in a close game as starting pitcher Angel Lopez struggled to survive jams in each of the first four innings. Only poor baserunning and three Rio Mesa double plays kept the Bulldogs from scoring early.

Mitchell’s homer to right gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead in the fourth, but in the fifth Lopez allowed a walk, a single and a hit batsman to load the bases, and Buena tied the score when Steve Ledesma ripped a liner off Lopez’s shin for an infield single that brought in Wood.

Mitchell relieved Lopez and worked out of further trouble with a fielder’s choice and a strikeout, but with two out in the sixth he gave up singles to Aaron Triana and Wood to set up Morales’ double.

Sam Garcia hammered Cooper’s first pitch of the seventh over the fence in right-center, but Cooper retired three of the next four batters to end Rio Mesa’s comeback bid. Cooper held Spartan standout Dmitri Young hitless in two official at-bats, walking the shortstop on one occasion.

“I give Cooper a lot of the credit for our poor hitting,” Duran said. “He basically threw all fastballs, but he had a little movement on it and we never got on stride.”